

Heirs of the Magi Archives

Cassie's Journal 2014 – Part One

By Steve Leggett

Published by Steve Leggett - Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2014 – Steve Leggett

Cover Image by Kayla Leggett \- Copyright 2014 - Used by Permission

ISBN: 978-0-9867537-9-4
Books by Steve Leggett

Heirs of the Magi Trilogy

Magi Sanctuary

Magi Master

Magi Ascension (Forthcoming)

Heirs of the Magi Archives

 Cassie's Journal 2011

 Cassie's Journal 2012 - Part One

 Cassie's Journal 2012 – Part Two

Cassie's Journal 2013 – Part One

Cassie's Journal 2013 – Part Two

Cassie's Journal 2014 – Part One

The Catalyst Chronicles

 The Catalyst is Born

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Table of Contents

January 2014

February 2014

March 2014

April 2014

May 2014

June 2014

Notes

January 2014

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Happy New Year – again!

Starting the day with good morning kisses with Michael; Tai Chi for two; and a Jacob and Jake gourmet breakfast definitely started the New Year off on a high; and the rest of the day has been a lot of fun too.

Michael and I had some work to do too; starting with the breakfast clean-up and continuing at my house while we helped to get everything ready for the party. We did pretty much get the rest of the day off from lunchtime on; though we were also on the kid control team for most of the rest of the day. The cooking or cleaning chores were mostly avoided completely thanks to the collective parental decision to use fine Chinette; plastic cutlery; and cans, bottles, or recyclable glasses for everything except hot drinks. All of the food was pre-made and potluck; so there wasn't much to do there either except keep the 'buffet' table loaded.

Our guests started arriving at eleven-thirty, and Rowen, Tim, and her family were among the first. The football fanatics were all here in time for the start of the first games. As usual, the living room was football central while the lounge was used for kid entertainment, video gaming, and what ended up only being two chick flicks. While Michael and I were both playing with the younger kids a lot; we weren't always doing that together. Michael, Tim, and some of the other guys mixed football with some play time on the floor with Ethan, Aiden, and the other younger boys for an hour or so this afternoon while Rowen and I played dolls with Ehlana, Naomi, and the other girls in my room.

The guys were playing with dolls too, but just in case the names are different in your future; in our present, boys only play with action figures – not dolls. It's late, and I don't want to get into a long rant on how silly girls in general think that is; so let's just not go there.

Football, kid games, and movies were the main entertainment options, but with everyone from great-grandparents to babies at the party or stopping by for shorter visits; there were groups of people hanging out in the dining room, kitchen, and office today too; and several guest bedrooms were available for afternoon naps both for kids and a few adults. Rowen and Tim disappeared for a little while during a break in the football action just before dinner; but they weren't napping. I'd be a bit jealous, but Michael and I got to have a little alone time after our guests went home for the night after the last football game ended; and we didn't really watch the movie that was on the television in the lounge while we had that chance for some play time.

Let's back up and get to that Michael and me part of the report in a bit. Our party guests included Michael's family, though Jake and Stephanie split their time between our house and hers; and Rebecca went out to spend some time with Jenny and some of their friends for a few hours too. Most of my family was here for the day; though Uncle Nick and Aunt Deborah came over later in the afternoon – in time for dinner – after spending the rest of the day with his family. Rowen and Tim were the opposite; and went to his Aunt and Uncle's football party so that they could watch most of the last two games of the day there. Since they likely had an even fuller house than we did; I'm sure that had something to do with why Rowen and Tim had felt the need to find that alone time while they were here.

While a lot of my time was split between kid-play and hanging out with Michael, Rowen, and Tim; I also managed to spend at least a little time with Grandma, Grandpa, and my aunts, uncles, Zack, and Leah. I can't say that for all of the drop-in cameo visits – I didn't even see some of our visiting friends and neighbors if they didn't do the rounds and I was busy in the lounge. I wish that there'd been more time to spend with Grandma and Grandpa – especially when the travel talk about their impending trip reminded me that they'll be leaving on Saturday morning; and will be away until the first weekend in March.

I guess that's one more thing to try and fit into my schedule for the rest of the week – more time with Grandma and Grandpa. With just four days left for our Christmas holiday; I have a feeling that this will be yet another item on my to-do list that there just won't be enough time for – unless we try a little time-phasing to help out with that.

Moving along, there's no way I'll cover every little thing that happened today; so let's start by skipping the football report. Feel free to look up the details from today's games if you're really interested; but just because I'll remember everything I saw and heard today doesn't mean I'll spend any time thinking about those games – unless the guys are still talking about them tomorrow.

I mentioned that lunch and dinner were potluck buffets, but should have added that they were also casual; with the footballers taking plates and drinks with them into the living room while parents or grandparents fed the younger kids at the dining room table. Michael and I had both of our meals in the living room – eating lunch with Rowen and Tim; and dinner with Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, Uncle Mark, Aunt Grace, and Michael's parents while Mom and Dad were busy – and eating in the dining room. That was practically the only time we spent with them in a group; and Aunt Leanne and Miranda had fun entertaining all of us – even though some of their fun was poked at Michael and me. For the record, I have no intention on going with any of their New Year's resolution suggestions.

Yes, I'm sure that you want to know what at least some of those suggestions were, no matter how far into my future you're reading this; but there are just some things that should be lost to history.

Michael and I continued to split our time between football and kid play time after dinner. We caught the end of the Rose Bowl and the start and about the last third of the Fiesta Bowl. While we were warm and having fun indoors, a little snow was falling outside; so we went out to shovel the driveway and sidewalks as soon as the game was over so that they'd be clear when everyone who was still there was ready to head home. That work was probably easier than rounding up kids, gear, and either leftovers or empty dishes; but it was cold too, and we didn't waste any time just getting the work done and heading inside again.

That did give us an excuse – I mean a good reason – for the post-party cuddle time so we could get warmed up, but since we spent close to a half hour with the last round of goodbyes and helping Mom and Dad with the final living room clean-up; I doubt anyone would believe that line.

It was already getting late by then, but Miranda had negotiated the extra time for Michael right down to the running time of our movie choice; allowance for our goodnight kiss; and time to walk home. We knew she was just having fun with us again, and would be sleeping long before Michael got home; but she probably didn't intend for us to factor that in to our play time.

When you're reading this some day in the future, Miranda, I'd like you to know that our version of that schedule you gave us was very entertaining for Michael and me; and a lot more precise than one hundred and seventeen minutes for movie, kiss, and walk home. Go ahead and use your imagination – we did! ;^)

Oh, and by the way; time limits really are very silly when time-phasing is an option for one of the participants. Michael and I could have days of fun in one hundred and seventeen minutes if we really wanted to do that.

I'll guess that you may never think of 'a quickie' the same way ever again after that comment – especially since a quickie doesn't have to be quick for a Magi Master.

Don't give me that look, Mom – I'm sure that you and Dad know exactly what I mean from personal experience – possibly on every occasion when I see you both smiling in a way that you shouldn't have been for the amount of time you were alone. That's also something that I can assure you Michael and I don't have experience with, and we won't anytime soon – though I won't guarantee that for time-phase make-out sessions now and then when life gets in the way of some 'us' time.

I guess there really isn't much else to report tonight. Michael went home about twenty minutes ago; I got ready for bed and tucked myself in with Mandy; and have been doing my nightly computing since then. That included email replies for Dawn, Violet, Christina, Jaimie and Kaitlyn, and a few of my school friends who were checking in with New Year's Eve and Day news.

This really has been a great start to twenty-fourteen; and ending the first day of the New Year with the Michael and me play time was my idea of a perfect way to wrap up an amazing couple of family and friends days. Now, I'm ready to have a short winter's nap; so it's time to wrap this up and head off to slumber-land for a handful of hours.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Thursday, January 2, 2014

This has mostly been a recovery day to recover from our New Year fun. I've done some work too, including some chores around the house for Mom; another round of snow shoveling first thing this morning with Dad and Michael at our house and with Michael and Jake at their place; and a half-hour or so of family business work that needed to get done today. I had the work done by lunchtime; and then Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I got together for a play afternoon.

Before getting to that, and while I'm thinking about Rowen; her father is particularly excited today because they've officially taken over the old Witch Falls Electric and Light store behind their computer store as of yesterday. The renovations won't start until next week; but he was already in there playing around and visualizing what his new data center is going to look like in just a couple of months. I know that Rowen's Mom is a bit nervous about the financing they're doing while getting this new business up and running, but Mom will make sure that their data center is a success; and she doesn't actually have anything to worry about – we just can't tell her why. Rowen's glad that her father is so happy; but isn't sure whether she's going to like the extra work he may have her do to help out. She likely has visions of scrubbing and cleaning; but I think it's more likely that she'll get to help out with building the servers and wiring the networks; so she probably doesn't have any more to worry about that than her mother does for the finances.

Moving along, Mom, Ethan, Ehlana, and I had lunch together before I went to meet up with Michael, Rowen, and Tim – in that order. Mom vetoed the suggestion for taking Ethan and Ehlana with us for some tobogganing because of how cold it has been today, and judging by how light the kid traffic was on the usual sledding hills along the ridge; she wasn't the only parent keeping younger kids indoors today. Ethan and Ehlana were disappointed, but it really was cold out; and we only ended up playing on our sleds for about an hour before deciding to come back to my house for hot drinks, a snack, and some video game play that the twins could join us for.

We hung out in the lounge for a couple of hours, and then Rowen and Tim headed out when it was time for Michael and me to help Mom with making dinner for eight. We were having Grandma and Grandpa over for dinner so that we could spend a couple of hours with them before they leave on their trip; and they'll be doing another meal with Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and Zack tomorrow night.

Since we'd been having big, special meals for the past two days; our meal tonight was just spaghetti with salad and garlic bread sides. That didn't really take very long to make, and we had everything ready by the time Dad got home – shortly after Grandma and Grandpa joined us. While travel talk was at the top of the chat list tonight; we covered everything from winter house checks to school, work, and fun plans for the next couple of months around here while Grandma and Grandpa are away.

Ethan and Ehlana were put in charge of entertaining our grandparents while Mom, Dad, Michael, and I cleaned up from dinner; and then we continued the chat time for another hour after dinner before Grandma and Grandpa headed home again. Michael and I had some play time after that with Ethan and Ehlana that included a group Magi lesson with Mom while Dad got to work in the office. There was enough time after our lesson for a bit more video gaming with Ehlana and me up against Michael and Ethan; and we did that until it was time to get the twins ready for bed. Michael and I helped out with that; we did the snack and bedtime story in the office with Mom and Dad; and then Michael and I tucked Ethan and Ehlana in for the night before coming back up to the lounge so that we could not watch the end of another football game tonight – the Sugar Bowl between Alabama and Oklahoma.

I'll skip over the details of our play time, and again be grateful for my photographic memory; but did want to mention that I finally got around to sharing that little holiday surprise I'd picked up just for Michael and me – and that might have had a lot to do with why Michael wasn't very interested in watching the game. 'Little' is definitely accurate, as is lacy, sheer, sexy, and hot. For the parents out there reading this in the future, try to remember that I'm a twelve-year old (almost thirteen) with a doctorate-level education; and I can assure you that Michael doesn't have a problem with how I feel about intimacy with my boyfriend. I've also mentioned before that we have already discussed certain boundaries too; and being Magi-trained gives us the discipline to stay within those limits. You trust your Magi kids with keeping that huge little secret and follow all of the rules – compared to that; it should be easy for you to trust us to make our own decisions about sex.

Michael didn't head home until shortly after eleven-thirty; and we had a quick chat with Mom and Dad as they were packing up from their work evening in the office. I hopped into my Jacuzzi after getting back up to my room; and have been multi-tasking my nightly computing while soaking in the tub. That was an option because Mom was going with a bedtime Jacuzzi session too; but let's not think about what she and Dad might be doing one floor below me – or if you are going to use your imagination for that; don't tell me about it whenever you do read this in my future.

While I'm still taking a break from my language and archive studies, I did some family business work tonight; took the time for the full news, sports, and entertainment check; and only needed a minute for email thanks to a near-empty inbox. There isn't really anything newsworthy to write about from any of that, and I guess that's really pretty much all the news I have for today; so it's time to wrap this up and for me to get out of the tub and ready for bed. We mostly have another play day tomorrow, and while we didn't make any definite plans for the day, we're having dinner at Tim's house and spending the evening there; and then I'm doing a sleepover at Rowen's house. After lots of family gatherings, we're not doing the dinner and a movie night tomorrow, but Mom, Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana don't have decided what they're doing yet. If the twins do sleepovers too, Mom and Dad could either end up with a kid-free night or four toddlers at our house.

I'll pick option two for that because Mom probably won't let Liz or Hannah take on extra kids overnight when they'll still be busy at the salon and bakery during the last weekend of the Christmas break. I'd suggest that Rowen and I should do our sleepover at my house too so we can help out, but we're overdue for one at her place; and Patricia mentioned that to us yesterday so we better stick with the current plan.

Okay, that really is it, and I'm ready to crash and nap soon, so...

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

Friday, January 3, 2014

It was very cold again this morning, and since everyone had a full day of holiday gossip; the weather was back up near the top of the Ridge River grapevine network. We're supposed to get a bit of a break from the deep cold for a day or two – including the near-freezing high we hit this afternoon; but then we're also supposed to get a bit more snow on Saturday and then start plunging back into the bitter-cold by sometime on Sunday.

The cold didn't really affect my day unless you want to count a couple of chilly walks with Rowen. We won't count needing to help my boyfriend warm up from his early morning walk over for Tai Chi because that was a lot of fun for both of us. He was helping out with some jobs at the Inn all morning; and headed home to get ready to do that right after Tai Chi. I haven't done a Tai Chi update in a while; so let's do that before moving along.

Now that we've mostly been exercising indoors for the past two months, Michael, Ethan, and Ehlana are really doing great learning the different forms and postures. They won't be able to just come out to the river in the spring and show all of those new skills off like they can when we're in the house and alone; but we will kick things up a notch or three to make our morning exercises more fun for all of us. Mom and Dad are great together, and I think that Michael and I will be that good together or better; but Ethan and Ehlana are a bit scary they're so good. They assure us that it's a twin thing, and I don't doubt that; but that doesn't make watching them any less amazing.

After Michael left to go home and get ready for his morning at the Inn, I helped Mom with making breakfast while Dad got ready for work and Ethan and Ehlana got changed and cleaned up. While we don't usually do hot morning meals on weekdays, we added eggs and hash browns to the menu; along with bakery croissants and muffins that we warmed up right before we sat down to eat. Ethan and Ehlana talked our parents into inviting Naomi, Aiden, and Sophia over for a sleepover; and got my okay to use the lounge for their movie night – and possibly to camp there overnight too. I thought that was a great idea, but for some reason, Dad had a problem with my suggestion that Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I could do that kind of co-ed sleepover next weekend.

I wonder why?

Mom and I took care of the breakfast clean-up too, and then I gave my rooms a once-over; grabbed a shower; started a load of laundry; and had a visit with Mom in the office while waiting to move that load from the washer to the dryer. She was doing a family business work morning, so Ethan and Ehlana were playing on their iPads while she did that. Once I had the dryer going, I headed out and over to meet up with Rowen and the computer store.

We weren't doing any work there, but went next door with Owen to the old Electric and Light store to take a look around. Those stores, like most in town, are very close together; and part of the renovation will be to connect them. That'll actually be one of the biggest jobs; though there are a couple of other changes that Owen wants to make, and those three jobs will be about half of the renovation time – as well as among the first jobs. While, as with their own place, the Electric and Light business had both a store and workshop-storage room; the data center won't have a store. Most of their business will be contracted, and what little local business it will have they can handle through the computer store.

After looking around today, I'd say that their two-month schedule should be easy to work with; and they'll end up having lots of time for the servers and network infrastructure that Owen will install himself – though it sounds as though he may contract Jenny's father to help out if he needs the extra hands for wiring everything. He's definitely like a kid in a candy store when it comes to the new toys he's getting to play with for this – just as he still is when building the custom notebooks for Mom. Some of the equipment is already arriving; and he'll be building servers and the rest of the systems over the next month or so while the renovations are done; and then have two or three weeks to get everything installed and up and running.

After doing our tour of the future data center, Rowen and I stopped in to visit my grandparents for a while; and then she came home with me for lunch. We were meeting up with Michael and Tim for some more tobogganing after lunch; and Ethan and Ehlana were allowed to go with us today – along with Naomi and Aiden. We added Jessica, Ryan, and Sophia to the group at the last minute; and then headed over to our favorite hill along the ridge at a bit after one o'clock.

I know that some of my friends and classmates don't like hanging out with their younger or older siblings, but we had a blast with our little gang; and Rowen even had fun when Patrick, Scott, and Lindsay joined us to play too. That was partly because the two pranksters only needed to get one look from Tim to dissuade them from even attempting a second prank – and had them aborting the first one. There's one more little bonus for Rowen in the boyfriend department!

We played for nearly two hours; brought everyone back to my house; and did the hot chocolate, snacks, and sledding recap with Mom before it was time for Jessica and Ryan to go home; and for Michael, Rowen, and me to go with Tim to his house. I needed to pack an overnight bag and drop it off at Rowen's on the way; but we were still home with time to play video games for a while until Tim's parents got home from the shop.

I really liked getting to spend more time with Tim's parents tonight. Michael obviously knows them very well, and Rowen is getting to know them better since starting to date Tim, but even when we've had our study sessions at Landry's Auto; I haven't spent all that much time just talking with Martin or Tracey. Between dinner and the Bowl games tonight; we got to have hours of chat time and fun with them. They're different than my parents, but then they're alike in many ways too. Tim's father is definitely more like my Dad than his older brother. Tracey is more outgoing, but then that's not as obvious compared to her very active and enthusiastic sister-in-law.

What was most interesting for me with Tim's parents was getting to discover those little things about them – and people in general – that you don't get to know from casual acquaintance. That kind of understanding and familiarity comes a little bit at a time; and we moved that along tonight. I don't think I'll get into that tonight, but that's only because I want to write a bit about Magi in a mixed family instead.

By the time any of the teens involved can read this in the future, it won't matter; though I still have issues with the Magi council's secrecy when it comes to Magi kids and teens.

Tim's family is different than mine, Rowen's, or Michael's because his father knows more about Magi than Jacob does; but he also isn't a Magi either. He and Jacob both know more than Rowen's parents do; but since Martin was there when his wife threw a combine off of his brother and watched Mom, Uncle Adam, and me heal Lee; he's seen more Magi action than possibly every non-Magi in town that knows about us. I don't know how much else Tracey has shared with him; but I think that it's a safe bet that he knows more about his son's abilities than Jacob knows about Michael.

Okay, that news won't be a surprise for any Magi in the future; but I know it would be for certain teens if they knew about it right here in my now.

That's one of the reasons why I'm writing about this tonight. Rowen's parents know almost nothing about her abilities, so things like dating wouldn't have that added component to them, but that's different for Tim's parents; and I wonder how that affects mixed couples when it comes to having their children enter the dating scene. I would expect that two-Magi parents would naturally hope for a Magi partner for their children; but that might not be the case for Tim's parents. In Martin's case, he may not even know enough about all of the Magi to even speculate about that, though he does know about me; and that's a mental trail I'll skip walking along. He probably does wonder how the two fired-up and hyper-active members of our little teen foursome ended up with two of the quietest teens our age instead of together; but then he isn't the only person in town to wonder about that.

Don't take that the wrong way, because Tim's parents absolutely adore Rowen; and think that she's very good for him – especially in the education department as his grades improve the more time he spends with Rowen and me. That may sound odd when Tim has had the advantage of being best friends with one of the best students in the school his entire life; but there's no doubt that Rowen is having more of an impact on him than Michael ever could.

One other thing that I wanted to mention is that Tim's parents are very proud of him. That can be said for most parents, but the reason I bring it up is because Tim is in a similar situation to his father. While Martin was over-shadowed by his big brother, Tim has that issue with his older cousins; and his best friend is a top student and extremely talented in both music and sports. Sure, he has the whole Magi thing, and it's probable that neither Tracey nor Martin know about Michael; but that isn't something they can brag about. What I'm getting at is that Tim is outwardly a pretty normal, average kid when it comes to his 'public' self. Yes, he's also popular, handsome, and out-going; but I find it interesting the different approaches each of us kid, teen, and adult Magi take to developing our personal and public lives.

Oh, and by the time you read this, Tracey; your son is going to be more than the best you ever dreamed or hoped for. Yes, Ethan, Ehlana, and I do know something; and no, I can't tell you about it now – and maybe not even all of it in the future.

So we had a finger-food dinner that was a mix of options from Chinese food to wings and potato skins; and then the teens in the house got to do the clean-up despite Tim's protests about hosting – not that he really tried to get out of the work all that hard. He may talk tough, but I'll guess that his mother gets what she wants from both of her favorite boys pretty much every time. That's something refreshingly cool about Tim's family – it's the girl in their trio who gets spoiled by the guys instead of the only child.

Yeah, Tim does get to have some pretty cool toys, but then so do his parents; and the girl who was given a bedroom suite by her adoptive father is not going to comment on anyone else when it comes to being spoiled.

We finished the clean-up shortly after the first game started, and then we joined Tim's parents in the living room to watch football for the rest of the evening. Martin, Tim, and Michael had fun talking football together while Tracey, Rowen, and I cuddled with our boys and often had our own chat going on ex-football. This was the first time I started to feel that sense of family and belonging while at Tim's house; and I hope that we get to have more nights like this.

There really isn't much else to report for that part of our night. The guys flipped between games, and Michael, Rowen, and I stayed until the end of the second game before Michael walked Rowen and me home to her house. It was colder again by then, so he and I didn't spend much time on our goodnight kiss; and Rowen assured me that the one she shared with Tim before we left was better – mostly because they made some excuse to go off to his room so they could take care of that without company watching them.

We weren't surprised to find out that Scott was spending the night too, and since he and Patrick had watched the bowl games with Owen; they were still awake and fired up. What was surprising is that they were good while we were hanging out together with Rowen's parents and having a bedtime snack; and they didn't even try to prank us or play any jokes at all.

Maybe they've made a New Year's resolution not to do that anymore. We can hope.

So after that little visit, Rowen and I got ready for bed; and have been chatting and surfing the web since climbing into bed for the night. We talked about everything from our quickly dwindling supply of vacation days to the joys of alone time with our boyfriends while Rowen browsed her way through YouTube vids and I've done a light version of my nightly computing. I've skipped talking with her about most of this journal update for obvious reasons; but she's preoccupied with the alone time she's hoping to have with Tim tomorrow night while Michael and I have our own plans for one last play night at my house before we'll be going back to school on Monday.

While we do have two days left before that inevitable event, we don't have any holiday-type plans for the weekend. It'll be a normal work weekend for Michael; I'll have my normal Saturday chores; and Rowen will be at the computer store for her usual Saturday morning shift. We're going to get together with Michael and Tim during Michael's afternoon break for a study session; though Rowen, Michael, and I all pretty much have our holiday assignments finished anyway, so that's mostly for show – and to help Tim. I may go and hang out at the Inn for a while too, but this should mostly be a quiet, rest-up weekend.

I won't see Grandma and Grandpa again before they leave early in the morning; but I'll keep track of them whenever they're travelling; and it'll be fun to see how difficult it is for me to keep track of their links when they're so far away – especially in India and Pakistan. Since many of these trips are to places they probably wouldn't have travelled to on their own; I'm really glad that they get to have those experiences now – even though we miss them a lot while they're away.

That's all I have for now, so I'm going to put my computer away and let Rowen chat me off to sleep. I don't want to be too tired for that Michael and me time; or anything else we end up doing this weekend.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Grandma and Grandpa are winging their way toward India as I write this, and while I wish that I could be on the trip with them; the trips there, while they're moving around between India, Pakistan, and Europe, and back home again won't be much fun.

They will be happy about missing more winter weather today; since we've had more snow and it's gotten cold again tonight. That weather didn't get in the way of our fun today; but Dad and I will be doing some shoveling in the morning; probably instead of Tai Chi. That's the main reason why I'm going to short-form this update – because it's already nearly one-thirty; and I'm going to need to be up again in about four and a half hours.

So, here we go with that.

My morning started with Tai Chi for one; the rest of my morning while with the Emersons was fairly uneventful; and when Rowen went to the store with her parents, I spent the rest of my morning doing chores at home. Rowen came over after lunch, and we had a play afternoon that included time with Ethan and Ehlana; and with Michael and Tim while Michael was on his afternoon break. There was some study time in there for the four of us who aren't about to start as unofficial college freshmen next week; but with NFL playoff games on tap; it wasn't all that easy to keep Tim's attention on our little holiday assignments.

I ended up staying at home for dinner after Michael went back to the Inn; but Rowen and Tim left then too, and had their own play plans for tonight. I'm sure that you can guess my favorite part of the day was when Michael and I got to have another few hours of alone time; though hanging out with Ethan and Ehlana until they went to bed was pretty good too – and the four of us had fun while Mom and Dad were busy with some weekend homework.

While Michael went home before midnight, I ended up doing some family business work after getting into bed with Mandy; though I needed the wind down time anyway after that few hours of fairly hot playtime with Michael. Our next alone time opportunity may not happen for a while once we're back in school, but for tonight; I'll just be grateful for the fun we have been able to have this week – and for my photographic memory!

That does cover the basics for today, and I'd rather dream about the play-time details instead of writing about them; so...

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

Sunday, January 5, 2014

The snow shoveling wasn't really that much work this morning, but it was cold; and not as much fun as Tai Chi would have been. Getting some time with just Dad and me was nice even if that was while we worked to clear the driveway, sidewalks, porches, and the truck and minivan; but we were both still really glad to get inside once we were done and enjoy the hot drinks and food that Mom had ready for us by then.

Our last Christmas break day has been fairly quiet; other than dealing with the weather. It was a low-key morning at church; partly because there were quite a few absent families – particularly among the 'country' members of our congregation. There aren't any major problems here in town, but troubles out on the area farms included everything from keeping livestock warm in the freezing temperatures to a few power outages. Compared to the other holiday church services, that made it feel like the sanctuary was half-full; and we didn't even do our lesson in Sunday school with a third of our class away today.

My day didn't exactly liven up after that. The cold kept us indoors; and Ethan, Ehlana, and I had Mom and Dad to ourselves for most of the day – except for when Michael, Rowen, and Tim came over for a couple of hours this afternoon to hang out during Michael's break from the Inn. Tim wanted to watch the football games; so Rowen and I mostly just cuddled with our boys and talked while they watched the end of the first NFL playoff game of the day between the Chargers and the Bengals.

While I'm on football, Tim also wanted to talk with Michael about the weight training they're going to start doing at school in the morning before classes start. When he found out that Kyle was going to begin his training tomorrow to get ready for college football; Tim decided that he and Michael should join his cousin for the weight-training workouts if they wanted to get serious about playing football next season for our school team. That's going to be tough for Michael, and he already has our Tai Chi every morning anyway, but even if he isn't as enthusiastic as Tim is; there's no way he'd let his best friend down or leave him without a training partner.

The good news for him is that if he gets sore from those work-outs; I'll be able to help him out with a little Magi Healing. He really does want to play football too if Tim is, and wouldn't want to miss out on the fun if Tim happened to make the team and he didn't; so his motivation isn't totally for Tim – just most of it.

Moving along, Michael headed back to the Inn as soon as that first football game was over; and Rowen and Tim left too – mostly because Tim wanted to get somewhere to watch the second game. I didn't go to the Inn tonight because it was going to be very quiet there anyway; and I wanted to stay at home, get ready for school tomorrow, and be in bed early. I also wanted to get set up for my next language studies by rounding up everything I'll need for the first month or so of my studies.

Between now and the end of the school year, I'm going to be studying the Dravidian languages, including Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada. It's just a coincidence that Grandma and Grandpa are in India as I'm starting this next language group, since my study plan was put together long before they booked this trip; but it does make it more interesting for me. Maybe they'll even meet some kids or teens for me to be chat partners with when I'm ready to start practicing my verbal skills.

Since we are back to school in the morning, it was time to get back to my usual nightly computing, but skipping some play time in the kitchen at the Inn allowed me to do all of that work after dinner; a Magi lesson with Mom; and enjoy some quality time with my Jacuzzi. Once I have this finished; I'll be heading off to sleep.

There isn't much to add for upcoming events this week. Violet and Dillon will be home sometime tomorrow; and will spend the rest of their break here in Witch Falls. The rest of our first week back to school will mostly just be getting back into the normal routine. Game night will be back on Thursday; Michael, Tim, Rowen and I will be going with the same study night rotation; and dinner and a movie night will likely be back on Friday again if for no other reason than because it'll be our last chance for some family time with Violet and Dillon before they head back to school on the weekend. Gretchen's having her thirteenth birthday party on Saturday, and that's going to be fun because she's going with a shopping, lunch, and matinee day in Crystal Springs. She isn't inviting everyone for that because of the driving issues; but Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I are invited.

I'm glad this will be a quiet weekend at the Inn, or Michael and I might have needed to skip the party – especially since Jake and Stephanie head back to New York on Saturday too. I'd like to have more time to spend with all of our favorite college teens; but they'll all be busy with their families and friends this week; so there won't be many chances for that. I know it's time to just get used to all of that, but I'm not; though I'd never trade going back to just Mom and me over the few drawbacks to having so many people to love – like missing them when we have to be apart.

Nearly everyone in Witch Falls would likely find it very strange that I never even experienced that during the first nine years of my life – missing anyone. Wishing for a happy-ever-after family isn't the same, though now that I think about it, that was still something I was wishing for when we moved here; so maybe the Witch Falls magic helped to make that wish come true!

Feel free to work that into your magic history stories, Miranda – maybe people will start tossing coins over the falls and making wishes or something.

Anyway, I've had enough for today, and really do want to get a decent night of rest ahead of our first week of classes in the New Year, so...

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

Monday, January 6, 2014

It's been a busy day!

Heading back to school was only part of that, but after staying at Michael's tonight to watch the BCS Championship game, and not getting to my school night studies until after midnight; I'm glad that I was able to have the extra sleep last night.

We have a temporary addition to our morning and evening routines at home, though I wasn't there for the first evening chat with Grandma and Grandpa. The morning chats will be more fun anyway; since they'll be able to give us their daily recaps during what is the end of the day for them in India. This was an adjustment and play day for them, so there wasn't much to report; but we're all glad that they're having fun so far ahead of the work they've already started doing by now.

Heading back to school after a holiday always feels a bit strange, and not walking there with Michael was the strangest part of the morning for me. He'd met Tim there about an hour early for their first weight training with Kyle, and though they were the only guys from our grade there; Kyle also had invited other guys from the football team to join them; and they had a teacher there and available in case of emergency. Tim had more fun than Michael did with that, but that was mostly because Michael had already done a few workouts work of heavy lifting at the Inn during the buffets yesterday.

I don't really have anything newsworthy to write about from our actual classwork today, other than that our teachers were happy to launch us right back into full study-mode without any steps to bring us up to speed over a few days. The gossip network was running at full-speed too, but Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I didn't make any headlines; so our conversations with our friends and other teens and kids mostly were about what we all did over the holidays. Football was obviously big for the guys with the championship game tonight and talking about the pro game playoffs. I seriously doubt that there were more than a handful of guys not watching that game – at least in our area; but I'll get to that soon.

The after-school action was at my house tonight, and since we pretty much had a full plate of assignments; we only had a little time to play with Ethan and Ehlana between the time we had our work done and Michael and I needed to go over to his house for dinner. Violet and Dillon were home by then, but they were having dinner with his family; so Ethan and Ehlana had Mom and Dad to themselves for most of the evening.

While I'm thinking about the twins, I haven't talked to them about it yet; but their first day of college 'classes' must have been fun for them. I don't expect that they'll need any more help with that than I did, at least at first; but I will be able to work with them if Mom needs me to do that – and Ehlana's lab sciences will definitely be fun to do with her now and then even if Mom doesn't need a part-time lab tech supervising them.

My favorite part of the night was dinner with Michael and his family. It's the last night I'll be having dinner with Jake and Stephanie before they head back to New York; so it was really nice to have those hours to spend with them while we ate and watched the football game. Miranda, Stephanie, Rebecca, and I weren't into the game all that much, but three of us were happy to cuddle with our boys while they watched the game and we talked about work, school, and fun plans both for us here at home and for Jake and Stephanie at their schools and in the big city. Things like Valentine's Day will definitely be different for them than for us – and not just because they'd be working at the Inn if they were here.

I hadn't thought about that for Michael and me this year; and don't think that I will until we get into February and have to deal with the probability that Michael and I will have a working first Valentine's Day together.

The football game will get some chat time at school tomorrow, and the Florida State fans will be happy campers; while those cheering for Auburn or the underdogs are disappointed tonight. I don't really have anything else to say about the game; though I'm ready with the usual stats and game details if Michael needs any support tomorrow.

I went home right after the game ended; had a chat with Mom and Dad; and then came up to my room to get ready for bed and started on my studies. That was three hours or so ago; and I'm ready to get some sleep. The only plans we have for tomorrow is dinner with Violet and Dillon; and Michael will be with me for that; and we'll be hanging out with them in the evening too. We aren't starting band practice until next week; so that'll make it easier for us after school, and might allow for some play time too before Michael and I will need to be home to help out with dinner.

That's it for now, and really time to pack up and crash for a few hours, so...

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

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

We've had a fun day, but it's also really late again; so this is going to be a micro-update.

The morning routine was pretty much back to normal weekday Tai Chi, breakfast, and getting ready for work, school, and play time at KidZone. Michael was home for breakfast with his family, and off to school early for weight training; so a new normal for Rowen and me will be meeting both of our boys at school instead of walking there with Michael.

I loved getting back to our music class this morning. It wasn't even until we started warming up and playing that I realized how little I'd played my saxophone over the holidays. Michael and I will need to get back to regular practices; though we didn't do that tonight. While music was my favorite class, the rest of the day was pretty good too; and so was our study session at the computer store.

Michael and I were home in time to help out with dinner; and we got to catch up on what Violet and Dillon had been doing all day along with the usual KidZone and parent daily recaps. Violet and Dillon couldn't talk about everything they did while hanging out with Mom; but I knew they did at least one Magi lesson while Ethan and Ehlana were at KidZone; and Violet did some family business work with Mom too.

I don't have anything specific to report from the rest of our evening. Dinner was good, and so was having the play time with Violet and Dillon. That'll be the last chance we have for that without a crowd around to share them with before they head back; so I'm really glad that we got to have this time with them. We played some games, watched some television, and had a group chat with Grandma and Grandpa; did an extended bedtime story and snack time with the twins; and wrapped up the night with a bit of teen and parent time in the office while Dad finished his homework.

Dillon's here tonight, but Michael went home by ten o'clock; so I was able to get started on my bedtime studies and nightly computing a bit earlier than usual. That really only ended up allowing me to get more work done instead of finishing up early; and it's after three o'clock again. Tomorrow will be the first school week 'work day' of the New Year for Rowen, Michael, Tim, and me for our part-time jobs, and I don't expect to see Michael tomorrow night; so maybe I'll just put in the extra hours early and see if I can start having one early night a week.

We'll see how that goes, but for now; it's time to pack up my computer and head off to sleep.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Okay, I've hit the wall; though it's only coming up on eleven o'clock, so this is going to be very short.

We went to school; had a fun day there; studied at Landry's Auto; I worked from the time I got home until coming up to bed except for our dinner break; and I have all of my work done.

That's it, that's all, goodnight, and...

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

Thursday, January 9, 2014

The extra nap time last night had me fully recharged by this morning; so I was fired up and ready for another long, fun day.

Good morning kisses with Michael and Tai Chi with him and my family is always a good start; and I really like the morning phone chats with Grandma and Grandpa too. One thing that I am going to miss is having Michael stay for breakfast some mornings; but he really doesn't have time for that right now while juggling Tai Chi and weight training. He only has about a half hour to get ready for school and eat something on the fly.

There isn't much to report from school. In our class, the top chat topic was Gretchen's birthday party – at least for those of us who are going to Crystal Springs with her. There are a few hurt feelings too, but everyone also understands that it's too expensive for most families to do big parties when they're in Crystal Springs.

It was my time at the Inn tonight that I had the most fun; starting with our after-school study session. One of the good things about the quiet business time during the few weeks after Christmas is that there isn't as much work to do at the Inn; so we were able to take our time getting our assignments done and have a little play time before Rowen and Tim headed out and Michael and I went to help out in the kitchen for the small dinner rush.

After the shock of having Jacob actually win a game night championship, Miranda didn't attempt another girls against the boys; or even a partner trade. She did have lots to say when her team ended up near the bottom for the senior championship scoring, but Jacob and some of the other guys just suggested to her that she might be the main distraction keeping him from playing his best; while that hadn't been a problem on a guys-only team.

Jake and Stephanie didn't help them out with that theory; since they did win the senior championship – their first time competing with the adults. Michael and I managed a top-five finish; and that saved us from getting drawn into that debate on one side or the other. I stayed to help with the clean-up; walked home with Michael and his family; and got home in time for the goodnight kisses with Ethan and Ehlana before doing my Magi lesson with Mom in the office while Dad got started on his homework.

Violet was at Dillon's house tonight, so Mom worked with me for over an hour; and then set me free to get started on my archives and language studies. That was only about two and a half hours ago, and while the extra sleep last night helped out a lot; I don't want to be burned out again by the weekend and need to cut back just a little. My archive assignment in particular was a snoozer too; and I nearly fell asleep trying to get through it tonight – not that I haven't done that before during some of the most tedious lessons.

I don't have any other news from around the family and there isn't anything I want to write about here from the news, entertainment, and sports checks; so I guess it's just time to say goodnight and get some rest.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Friday, January 10, 2014

Yesterday's update is coming to you this morning because I fell asleep last night while watching our second movie in the lounge – while cuddling with Michael. He thought it was cute, and he advised me that Rowen and Tim thought it was funny. So did Mom, Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana; and I'm glad that I could entertain everyone.

Waking up on the sofa in the lounge this morning felt strange, and despite the jokes; I was still in the same clothes I fell asleep wearing – not that the thought of having Michael help me get changed isn't interesting. Maybe we'll try that out sometime. ;^)

This update is about yesterday, though; so let's get to that. The morning routine was fairly uneventful; though that could partly be because I was a bit tired then too. Our first school-day Friday of the year was a Day One schedule; so that wasn't quite as much fun as starting the day with music would have been. I love our Spanish class too; but that isn't as much fun when pretty much everyone else in the class except our teacher isn't particularly enthusiastic about the subject.

Ending the afternoon with Phys-Ed is good, though, and being set free for the weekend usually has everyone at school happy. Michael, Tim, and Rowen came home with me; though we split up so that they could all check in with parental units first. We did our homework; and then had time to play with Ethan and Ehlana before getting put to work. Michael and I were in the kitchen, and Rowen and Tim were in the lounge to get it ready for the movies part of our dinner and a movie night.

I won't mention that it took them a very long time to do that – especially since they took everything Mom had picked up with them in one trip – and only needed to re-stock the fridge. Testing the sofa for comfort, or any other 'work' excuse they might use doesn't change the fact that even my brother and sister knew what they were really doing.

We had a fairly large gang over for dinner; which is why movie night was in the lounge for kids and teens, and in the living room for the adults. Violet and Dillon were with us for dinner and the first movie, though they mostly talked with Mom, Dad, and the rest of the adults during dinner while Ethan and Ehlana helped to keep my friends and I entertained. I've skipped over some details there; but I'm doing this while getting ready for Gretchen's party; and need to hurry up a bit.

Dinner was surf and turf with a lot of choices, so the work took a while; but the food was awesome. While we – the younger teens – didn't get much time to spend with Violet and Dillon during dinner or the clean-up; they watched the first movie with us in the lounge so we had that couple of hours with them. Ethan and Ehlana had them exclusively for their bedtime routine during our movie intermission; and then Michael, Rowen, Tim, and I were part of the hugs and kisses committee when it was time for them to head out – along with the rest of our guests.

Violet and Dillon weren't going straight to his house, but they stayed there overnight after stopping in for a visit with Jake and Stephanie. It's probably tougher for Jake and Dillon to be so far apart from each other after being best friends pretty much their entire lives; but Violet and Stephanie have become best friends in exactly the same way Mom and Aunt Leanne did when we first moved here, and they miss each other too. That'll be tough while they're all at college; but I'm sure that they're all also glad to know that they'll be living here in Witch Falls after that.

I don't remember much after the start of our second movie; so I must have fallen asleep fairly early on. Michael did tell me that they watched the rest of the movie before I was tucked in for the night: Mom and Dad saw him – and Rowen and Tim – out; and he headed home for a little late night visit with his brother and Stephanie before going to bed. The good news with that is I'm fully-charged and ready for our day in Crystal Springs – and maybe for some Michael and me time tonight after we get home again. This is another day where he's missing a shift at the Inn, but I'll make that up to Miranda and Jacob by helping out at the buffet tomorrow to thank them.

For now, though, I really need to finish getting ready for Gretchen's party, so...

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

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Happy 13th Birthday, Gretchen!

We're just about out of twelve-year olds in my class now, and after going to quite a few of the parties; I'll have to put this one up near the top as one of the best.

Before I get to that, though; let's do a college-teen update. Jake and Stephanie are back in New York now; though they're staying in a hotel tonight because their residential halls don't open until tomorrow. I'm sure that the decision to do their flight today had nothing to do with getting one night alone together before being split up again between now and Spring Break. They won't be coming home for that break either; though they haven't decided for sure what they are going to do instead. Violet and Dillon are doing the same thing with the hotel sleepover; while Josiah and Christina are spending part of the weekend with her family on their way back to school on Sunday.

As I inferred with yesterday's report; my day started off fun – even though the jokes and teasing were mostly directed at me after falling asleep last night. It really isn't very likely that I inherited that from Mom; but I am going to need to re-evaluate my schedule and think about lightening it up just a bit. Yeah, I know; and it probably won't happen for me any more than it does for Mom and Dad. Taking one or two things off of our plates usually just ends up making room for new jobs.

Work wasn't on my mind at all while we were busy playing all day. The fun started when we met up in front of the Inn before heading off to Crystal Springs. We did that mostly because it didn't make much sense for everyone to head out to Gretchen's place only to come back through town again on our way to the city. Her parents had recruited drivers; and had room for thirteen teens and kids; including Gretchen's brothers and sister. Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I were put together with Sally's parents for the round-trip because they were two of the drivers; but Sally was with her best friend, Gretchen and their boyfriends.

Michael, Tim, and Rowen don't really know Sally's parents much better than I do despite going to school with her since they were five. We do all like them, though, and had fun talking with them for the hour and a half it took us to get to the Mall – our first stop on Gretchen's birthday itinerary. We – the five teen couples – were set free once we were in the Mall; and had two hours to shop and wander around until we needed to meet up with our six adult chaperones and Gretchen's brothers and sister for lunch.

By then, I could sense that the three younger kids were feeling a bit left out; so Michael and I had lunch with them and we both earned some bonus points for that both with the kids and parents. That was more work for Michael than it was for me because Gretchen's brothers were a handful and only wanted to hang out with him; while her sister, Wendy, was happy to chat with me while doing her best to ignore her brothers' antics.

The movie theatre was our next stop, and while we all had the option to see anything; Gretchen picked 'The Hunger Games – Catching Fire', so all of her friends chose to do that with her while everyone else went to see 'Frozen'. My theatre experience is as limited as it is for all of my friends, so that was the same for all of us; but some of us had the added bonus newness of movies with boyfriends – or girlfriends. Going with a bigger group of friends was new for me too, and while I wouldn't suggest that we were at risk of getting in trouble; there was some popcorn getting tossed around, and the film wasn't the only entertainment for the couple of hours and change we were there. I won't critique the movie here, but if you're interested whenever you read this in the future, I did like it; so feel free to check it out – if it's still available to watch it – if that's even possible in your present.

Maybe I'll talk to Mom about that for our archives. Other Magi Masters haven't done much multi-media archiving since the invention of audio and video recordings; but that doesn't mean we couldn't start doing that – especially with the resources we'll soon have set up here in Witch Falls. We don't have to limit ourselves to written records; and our archives have survived the millennia better than most ancient knowledge. The only issue we that might be an issue is whether the technology survives too; but that's something to think about more deeply some other day.

Getting back to the story, though, we went to a restaurant after the movie, and while we would have helped out with Gretchen's brothers and sister again; we were put at the one, big table that had room for all ten teens while the rest of our group was at two tables directly behind Gretchen so that we could all join in for the birthday celebration parts of that two-hour blast of happy memories. Gretchen opened her gifts after our orders were taken and while appetizers and drinks were delivered.

I'm going to take a second here to mention that it's a little uncomfortable for me when it comes to having my friends' parents paying for movies and meals like we had today – though we were on our own for buying lunch at the food court. Gretchen's parents had seven boys including their own; and that's got to be a little scary when it comes to feeding that many growing boys at a restaurant. Michael was with me on that issue without talking about it, so we took it easy on our orders; but Rowen and Sally were the only other teens taking prices into account while choosing their meals; and I would have felt a lot better if I could have helped out with the bill tonight. Maybe I can get away with an extra-special thank-you card for Gretchen's parents. I'll see what Dad and Aunt Leanne think about that tomorrow.

Dinner was the last event of the day before we headed home, so after doing the cake and ice cream thing for dessert; we headed home again. Sally's parents dropped all of us off at Rowen's house, but Michael and I only stayed long enough for a little front porch chat with Rowen and Tim before they went inside and I took Michael home with me. We were back in time to have a visit with Mom, Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana; then help with getting the twins off to bed before coming up to the lounge for some alone time that included mostly not watching the first Hunger Games movie. Okay, yes, I recorded every moment of the film into my photographic memory, but trust me; replaying the Michael and me action is way more entertaining!

Mom and Dad gave us the goodnight hugs, kisses, and 'time for Michael to head home' visit when they went to bed shortly before the movie ended. You might be wondering if they caught us doing anything that might be too hot for them to handle as parents, but that won't ever happen – and that's one advantage for the teens that comes with our connections to each other. I'll always know where they are – just as they know where I am.

And 'normal' teens think that parental GPS tracking is unfair! ;^)

I guess that's pretty much it for tonight. Our goodnight hugs and kisses took a while, but Michael was on his way home before midnight; and I came back upstairs and got ready for bed right away. The only computer check I did tonight was for email – mostly to check and make sure that my favorite, travelling college teens were somewhere safe. For some reason, the two couples that are staying in hotels tonight only sent 'we arrived safe' messages with no details. I'm sure they were probably all just tired out after long a long travel day and went to bed early.

Sleeping is likely optional; but let's not go there or I'll be wishing that Michael was still here with me.

It is time for me to get some sleep, though, so I'm going to wrap this up now. Dad got some work done today, but will still be busy tomorrow; so we won't have much going on after church. I'll probably spend some time with Ethan and Ehlana tomorrow afternoon, and then do the full buffet shift with Michael and Rebecca. That'll seem quiet compared to today, but I'm good with a lazy day; and Mom and I are going to have a very busy week while Dad's in Crystal Springs. With that in mind, I'm out of here; so...

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

Sunday, January 12, 2014

I don't really have a lot to write about tonight, and since I'll be getting up in a few hours to see Dad off to Crystal Springs; I'll go with the condensed version for this update.

We've had a pretty nice weather day that's been way too warm for January; but nice for taking Ethan and Ehlana out for some play time this afternoon. Tai Chi was nice; but breakfast at Michael's was really great. My invitation probably had a lot to do with Jacob and Miranda missing Jake and Stephanie, and I've done what I could today to help them out with that – including liberal doses of hugs and kisses.

It seemed quiet at church today with so many of the college kids away again. There are still some collegians around who won't be leaving until next weekend; but not very many. Pastor John started a new series of sermons today, and while we – the kids and teens – aren't in the sanctuary for that; our Sunday school teachers have started to match up, or at least add in, the key messages of those sermons. I haven't really talked theology with Mom since back when I first studied the bible; but I like the idea of having parents freshly ready to discuss religion questions of the day from their kids.

Moving along, we had lunch for five at home after I walked with Michael to the Inn on my way back. Dad needed to get to work after that, so Ethan, Ehlana, and I went out to play until it was time for Michael's afternoon break. We met up with him at the Inn, and collected Rowen and Tim on our way back to my house. The guys watched the end of the first NFL football match while playing video games with Ethan; but Rowen, Ehlana, and I mostly just sat with them and talked instead of getting into either the football or gaming action. We also did a little hair play time when I needed to get ready to help out at the Inn; and then Rowen and Tim left for her house when Michael and I went to play in the kitchen with his father and sister.

That was a fairly entertaining blast of action, and while the dining room wasn't completely full for each buffet sitting; we were busy from the start of the prep work until Michael, Rebecca, and I were set free to go home for the night. Michael came home with me after we dropped Rebecca off at her house, but only so he could say goodbye to Dad and do the bedtime story and snack with Ethan and Ehlana. Dad had finished his work by dinnertime, so he and Mom had been able to have some fun time with the twins that included a bit of Magi play; but they were ready to go to bed by the time the twins were tucked in.

No, they didn't go to sleep; as usual, feel free to use your imagination; and let's move along.

They were already, um, entertaining themselves by the time I came up the back stairs to my room after saying goodnight to Michael on the front porch; so I got ready for bed and started working on my studies and the full nightly computing checks. I should have gone to bed a while ago; but decided to put in the extra time tonight while feeling pretty good. With a bit of Magi power help, I've finished about four days worth of work; so cutting back on that this week while Dad's away is an option. That works for me, but we'll see how I feel about the lost hours of down time by tomorrow night.

It is time to get what sleep I can right now, though, so...

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

Monday, January 13, 2014

I have a fair bit of news to cover today; but let's begin with the travel reports.

First up would be Dad's trip to Crystal Springs. Mom, Ethan, Ehlana, and I were all up early to see him off; and we even added in an early chat with Grandma and Grandpa so that he wouldn't miss that one – especially since he'll miss all of the morning chats for the rest of the week.

While we're on that topic, the next trip is going to be Mom's overnight trip to the city tomorrow. Naomi's third birthday is on Tuesday too, and Ehlana is staying with her after the party for a sleepover; so Ethan's doing a sleepover with Aiden. Aunt Leanne was happy to have me stay with her and Uncle Adam – and help with Zack; so that cleared Mom's parental calendar for the night. As usual, no details of non-public plans are needed or wanted by the kids involved; but we hope our parents have fun.

Grandma and Grandpa were back to work again today after taking the weekend off for some sightseeing. Their second week in India is going to be one of the busier for them; though that's as much because of travel times as number of appointments and meetings. While all of the charity-focused trips are important, and that work one of the main goals of our family business; the work that Grandma and Grandpa are doing for the businesses is proving even more valuable in a lot of ways – and their efforts certainly show up on our financial bottom line. Since that is what counts to pay for all of our charity work; I'm really glad that they're as interested in that part of the travel opportunities as they are for the charities.

Finally, on the travel front; the 'girls' weekend away' trip has pretty much been finalized. As usual, Mom and Aunt Leanne are coordinating the weekend trip to California that is going to be a combined visit to see Barb and a birthday celebration for Patricia. There will be ten women going along; they'll leave Friday morning; and get home late Sunday night. While most of the women are in on it, and helped with the planning; it will be a gift-surprise for three of the girls – Liz, Hannah, and Stacey Burroughs. Inviting the new Pastor's wife along will likely make the gossip network around here, but I think that Stacey will love the surprise; and will have a blast with her new friends.

Rowen and I will be wishing we were with them, but then so will just about every other woman in town – especially since they'll be away for the Super Bowl weekend. With Miranda away, I'll guess that I'll be helping out at the Inn on Super Bowl Sunday; though rumor has it that Jacob may be doing something a bit different this year while Miranda's away with the girls. While Mom didn't give me any details about that, I can't help getting a mental picture of a guys' night, finger-food-only buffet table; a couple of big screens with the game on; and maybe some video gaming nooks with yet more football action going on.

I'll try not to think about that too much between now and then. That's all the travel news; so let's move on to the daily update.

After Dad left this morning, Mom had three cuddle buddies until we needed to get up again and start our usual weekday morning routine. Michael came over for Tai Chi, and then hurried off to grab some food before heading off to his weight training at the school. I've thought about going along sometime just for the experience; but I'll wait a while for that and avoid the risk of damaging Michael's rep by having his girlfriend checking up on him too soon.

Out-lifting him would be fun too; but we'll probably never get the chance to have a little Magi-powered weight lifting competition at the school. Lee Landry can get away with jokes about bench-pressing farm equipment – he's got the physique for it. I seriously doubt that anyone would believe that Tracey Landry or I could pick up combines and throw them across the room.

Anyway, Mom's trip for tomorrow was pretty much decided on before I went to school; so she was both a happy camper and busy with the extra work she wanted to get done today now that she was going to be off playing for a day and a half or so. NFL football playoffs were the top story around the school – at least for the guys. There was some interesting girl chat going on too; including the re-cap of Gretchen's party with the girls in our grade. I was a bit surprised that Valentine's Day is already heading toward the top of the girl chat list, but it is; and some of the teen guys could be in trouble this year if they don't get their acts together between now and then.

It's a bit too early for me to be thinking much about that – or late when it comes to the family business; since my Valentine's Day work was pretty much done back in November; so let's get back to current events.

We're all the way back into the usual class routine now, and the modules we're working on will mostly take us through to March Break. For our Day One schedule, that means ongoing politics and political history for our Social Studies and History classes as we continue to work up to the big Washington D.C. trip at the end of April. That's another upcoming event that isn't really on my radar yet; but Uncle Nick – Mr. Ayres – and some other teachers are working on that already; including everything from proper photo identification and documents to flights and hotel reservations. I have enough on my plate, so keeping up with those details isn't high on my list of priorities; but I'll probably change my mind about that by April.

Dinner and play time at Michael's house tonight was at the top of that list; though we had our usual after-school study session at my house first, and followed that up with some outdoor play time with Ethan and Ehlana. It wasn't as warm outside as it was yesterday; but still well-above freezing; and the snow melt continued all day. We probably won't have much snow left by next week if the forecast holds; but I'm sure winter will be back again soon enough – it's way too early in the year to be hoping for spring.

Rowen and Tim headed for the computer store and shop when Michael and I were ready to drop Ethan and Ehlana off with Mom before back-tracking to his house. As with breakfast on Sunday, I'm fairly sure that Jacob was going all-out with the cooking to keep distracted while missing his oldest son and future daughter-in-law. No, Jake and Stephanie haven't gotten engaged yet; but it's inevitable. Miranda, Michael, Rebecca, and I were happy to help out by eating all of the amazing food; and we really had a good couple of hours together – including the post-meal clean-up.

Michael and I did our music practices after that – both my guitar lesson and saxophone practice to get ready for music class and our first band practice of the New Year. We don't have the new music for that yet; but do know that our next 'show' will be the seniors' Valentine's Day party at the church reception hall. We had an hour or so of chat time in the living room with Miranda, Jacob, and Rebecca before I went home too; but the only news I have from the rest of the night has to do with a little chat that Rebecca and I had between our music practice and hanging out in the living room.

She'd been in her room while Michael and I were in his; so I stopped in for a visit while he went on ahead to get drinks and a snack for us. I think that it's been building up for a while now; but Rebecca isn't very happy with how her first year of high school is going. A big part of that is because she and Jenny are not moving in the same circles right now; so they're really not spending much time together outside of school. They're still best friends, and that isn't going to ever change for them; but Rebecca is feeling left out.

That doesn't mean she wishes she was on the cheerleading squad, or doing anything else that Jenny is doing this year; but she also hasn't figured out where she fits in either. Not having a boyfriend doesn't bother her at all except for when it excludes her from things that Jenny and her other friends are doing. Unfortunately, that means that she misses out on a lot of the friend-time fun – particularly on the weekends. I didn't help much other than being a sympathetic ear; but I am going to work on finding things that we can do together – and maybe with Rowen and some other girls – over the next few weeks. This week will be tough with everything else I have on the go, but we do have a long weekend coming up; so a girls' night movie and make-over could be an option.

I went home in time to do the bedtime story and snack with the twins; Mom and I did my Magi lesson after that; and then I came up to my room to get started on my usual bedtime studies and computing. All of that ranged from fun and exciting to ultra-tedious; but there really isn't anything new to report from any of it either. My archive and language studies took a couple of hours, but I didn't have much family business work to do; so it's only a bit after one o'clock now. I'm still well-ahead of schedule this week, so I can take the night off tomorrow if needed – though I'll probably just work while waiting for Zack's night-time feedings so that Aunt Leanne and Uncle Adam can sleep through the night.

I guess that's it for now, and I'm ready for some nap time; so...

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

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Happy 3rd Birthday, Naomi!

I'm sure that she's having a very happy day, though I only saw her for a few minutes after band practice and our study session at the computer store; while stopping by to give her the gift that Michael and I got for her. We only stayed for a few minutes because her party was already in full swing, and I needed to pack my overnight bag too before Michael and I went to have dinner with Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and Zack.

Our day started out fairly hectic; except for during Tai Chi. Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana all needed to pack for their own sleepovers; I helped with getting Ethan and Ehlana cleaned up and ready for a day at KidZone and the party; and Mom and I had to juggle the rest of the normal weekday morning routine around all of the extra work. There wasn't enough time to get everything done, which is why my bag didn't get packed; and Rowen picked me up on her way to school instead of us meeting up somewhere between our houses – or at hers.

While the big news of the day for Ethan and Ehlana is obviously Naomi's birthday, and Mom's top stories will not be kid-rated; my most interesting moment of the day came during band practice.

We were given the music we'll be playing for the seniors' Valentine's Day dance, and did a once-through for most of the pieces today; but the moment came when Mrs. Robinson asked Michael and I to do a duet for the dance too. She picked 'Unforgettable' for us, a la Nat King and Natalie Cole; but left it up to us to do our own arrangement and interpretation – other than to joke that we should remember our audience and not rock or rap it up.

Michael and I didn't get a chance to do anything more than listen to some different versions of the song on YouTube tonight; but we'll get started on some practices as soon as we can. We're not looking to start a band or anything, but it feels really good to be invited to do more duets together. It's also one more thing to add to our already packed schedules; though this one is definitely on the fun side of the list.

Spending the night with Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and Zack was a lot of fun too. Michael and I got to their house just a few minutes ahead of Uncle Adam; and Aunt Leanne already had dinner ready to go – mostly because the entree had simmered in a crock pot all day. Getting to spend time like that with my aunt and uncle is getting tougher all the time; so I'm really glad that we got to do that tonight while also giving my parents another kid-free opportunity. Zack's three months old now; and getting to be more entertaining to be around every time I see him.

While Mom, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Leanne all keep records of Zack's progress, I'm overdue for an update in my journal; and my less-frequent observations of his development might be of value too. Comparing him to Ethan and Ehlana wouldn't be fair considering not only that they're Magi Masters; but also that they are probably two of the strongest Masters ever. I can compare them to other Magi kids, though – both in terms of power and Magi 'growth'.

Zack's raw power level is similar to Naomi and Aiden; but his development is accelerated compared to them. At this point, that's mostly because of the pre-natal program that's much more defined now compared to the first steps Mom took with helping Liz when she was pregnant with Naomi. That gap will likely shrink over time; but it's significant and noticeable when comparing them at three months. That's an even bigger deal when comparing Zack to Aiden, because Aiden didn't have a Magi mother; and basically had no external, pre-natal Magi development.

Mom is hesitant to change that either when it comes to non-Magi mothers. It would be very easy for the baby to bond to the Magi-trainer prenatally; and then not bond with his or her mother at all after birth. That's apparently been a problem with non-Magi parents in the past here anyway; and a concern that the council shares with us. There is no doubt now that working with the Magi babies prenatally does help their development quite a bit, though; so it's something that we'll need to explore more and hopefully find a way to help all Magi babies.

In Zack's case, he's already about where Naomi was at six months or so; and maybe eight or nine months for Aiden. That's his Magi development level, and though most of his physical growth is normal; he's ahead of the curve for things like sensory control and motor skills. He needs to play 'normal baby' in public for where he should be; but is happier when he can be himself at home. He'll still be discovering his talents for quite a while; but one big one that we were interested in isn't showing up yet to any degree – Healing. That doesn't mean he won't develop it, and we will be able to recognize the signs much sooner than anyone was able to do that for Uncle Adam, but Mom also doesn't know whether the Healing talent develops differently with Magi compared to Masters. If it is the same, though, Zack won't have that talent – not that it would be surprising considering how rare the talent has been among Witch Falls Magi.

Whatever happens with that, Zack is an amazing little boy; and has inherited pretty much all of the Magi strengths of both parents. I'm not doing anything to help with his lessons yet, and probably won't for quite a while; but it is fun when I can chat with him telepathically and have a little play time – which Zack and I did during his midnight feeding; and probably will again when he wakes up for his next feeding.

That was one of the best parts of my night, but so was catching up with Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne while we had dinner; and the play time we had with Zack between then and when Michael headed home for the night. I wouldn't dream of scaring my boyfriend, and yes, I do know something; so I'll only mention here that he is really great with kids, and is going to be an amazing father some day.

Don't worry Mom and Dad – by the time you read this; you'll know that I wasn't commenting about the near-future! ;^)

I don't really have much more to cover for today. Michael went home when Aunt Leanne was ready to do bath time with Zack before nursing him and putting him to bed. I helped with that; and then took over babysitting duties while Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne both went to bed – though they didn't go to sleep right away.

Again, no details required by the kids; thanks anyway.

I've been working on my computer and studies since then except when I did Zack's midnight-ish feeding and we had our Magi-powered chat and play time before he went to sleep again. I finished my studies a while ago, but decided to just stay awake and work ahead until he's up for his next feeding; which should be soon. That won't leave me with much time to sleep, but I really want to make sure that my aunt and uncle can actually get some consecutive hours of down time; and I can always use a little Magi self-healing in the morning if needed.

While I'm waiting for Zack, I'm going to wrap this up and maybe play around with ideas for the duet Michael and I will be doing next month. Maybe I'll even try it out on Zack after he's finished with his bottle, and hope it puts him back to sleep quickly; though that wouldn't be the reaction Michael and I would hope for with our Valentine's Day audience – even if the dance is going to be happening during normal afternoon nap time for some of the seniors.

Anyway, that's it for now, so I'm out of here.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

It was nice while it lasted, but we're back to freezing temperatures again tonight – though not the deep freeze of the now-infamous 'polar vortex'. I haven't commented on that round of media idiocy; but then pretty much the entire mainstream news system is nothing more than info-tainment now anyway, so why bother?

This is going to be a fairly short report tonight, partly because of certain gaps in the information Mom passed on from her sleepover in the city; and also because there just wasn't much going on today other than school and work.

I loved exercising with Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne this morning; but missed having Michael, Mom, and the twins there too. Uncle Adam cooked up a great breakfast, so that was a bonus; and so was the morning long-distance chat with Grandma and Grandpa. There's probably a good reason why they decided to call us instead of Mom and Dad in their hotel room; but let's not go there. I was still ready to go to school early even after some extra hair-play time with Aunt Leanne. That gave me enough time to meet up with Rowen and drop my overnight bag off at home on our way to school; and we were there ten minutes before Michael and Tim met up with us after their weight training workout.

There really isn't any news to write about from school – just a standard, middle-of-the-week day. Our after-school study session was at Tim's house, but we just got to the work and finished it so that we could all get to our part-time jobs – and I could get home and do the overnight update with Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana. The twins had lots to tell me about Naomi's party, their sleepovers, and everything they did today; but Mom had almost nothing to tell me – other than that she and Dad went out to dinner with the Malloys.

Having that lack of detail is mostly a good thing, but this time my adorable little brother and sister were sporting the 'we know something you don't know' grins; so it doesn't take a rocket scientist to guess that some birthday shopping might have been going on yesterday too. They might be more excited about my upcoming and impending jump into the teens than I am right now; but I'm sure I'll catch up eventually – especially since it'll be my first with a boyfriend.

Our little chat was entertaining, but then it was mostly all work after that except for our dinner break. Even Ethan and Ehlana were busy with their college studies tonight while Mom and I both worked on the family business. I worked at that until Mom was ready to do my Magi lesson; we did the full bath and bed routine with the twins after that; and I've been multi-tasking my bedtime studies and computing with some Jacuzzi time since then. There isn't anything newsworthy to report from any of that, and it's time for me to get out of the tub and finish getting ready for bed; so I'm going to wrap this up and get on with that.

Until next time...

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

Thursday, January 16, 2014

It's late, and I'm tired; but this is going to be short because I really don't have much to write about tonight.

We've had a fun, busy day; with my hours at the Inn tonight being the most entertaining – especially when Mom helped Miranda to win the senior championship while Dad's away. That was actually the top family news story; which should give you an idea of just how uneventful our day has been. Considering that we're closing in on a long weekend, it was fairly quiet around the school; with nothing major making the gossip network rounds. Studying at the Inn after school, and then helping out in the kitchen with the small dinner crowd kept Michael, Rebecca, and I busy; though we probably didn't have quite as much fun and Rowen and Tim did – at least while they were on their own between the time they left us and when they had dinner at his house.

I don't really want to think about that too much, since Michael and I haven't had much alone time this week; so let's move this along.

The Inn wasn't busy for dinner, so there wasn't any pressure to keep up with the work in the kitchen; and Michael, Rebecca, and I were set free early to eat and then set up the dining room for the games. While Miranda was very happy to win another championship, it was a fairly quiet game night too; with a smaller-than-usual group – particularly with the kids and teens. That allowed us to get through the games a bit faster than usual too; so I was home with Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana with enough time to get the twins off to bed; do my Magi lesson with Mom; and be in bed and ready to start my studying and nightly computing by eleven-thirty.

While I could have taken the time off tonight, I decided to keep working ahead so that taking three days off this weekend is an option. I know, and I keep trying to do better; but don't seem to have much success fighting the urge to be just as responsible and dedicated as my parents are.

Sorry, Aunt Leanne. I will keep trying not to disappoint you with that too much! ;^)

Anyway, the language studies are fun; my archive homework was a bit tedious again; and I only had a bit of 'normal' family business work to take care of before moving on to the usual nightly checks. That's kept me busy for a few hours, but there isn't anything new or newsworthy to report from any of that. I am ready for some down time now, though, so I'll wrap this up and get some sleep so I'll be ready for the long weekend.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Friday, January 17, 2014

I don't mention this often enough in my journal, but I still really love having Dad home again with us after his week in the city. His return was the main reason why Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I were here at my house tonight even though we weren't doing a dinner and a movie night this week. They did stay for dinner, and we had some play time with Ethan and Ehlana as well as watching a movie in the lounge after the twins went to bed; but I'll get to that in a minute.

There isn't really anything to report from this morning or our time at school. I'm starting to wish that Michael wasn't doing the morning weight training with Tim and the other guys; but only because he doesn't have time to stay for breakfast anymore and still get to school on time. Tim loves that time with his cousin, though, and I have no intention of getting in the way of their play time by complaining about it – not to mention that Rowen and I may really appreciate all of that work they're doing by summertime!

It was nice being on the Day Two schedule today; and music class always gets my morning off to a great start. We were given a fair bit of homework for the long weekend between yesterday and today; but then we've already taken care of most of it between our study sessions after-school study sessions last night and tonight. Tim wasn't thrilled about studying today, but I'm sure he'll appreciate it more when he doesn't have to cram to get the work done on Monday night.

Though she had four teens for dinner, Mom still opted for 'real' food; and Rowen and I helped her with that while Michael and Tim played video games in the lounge with Ethan and Ehlana. We won't be in danger of putting Michael's father out of business at the Inn, but Mom's veggie and rice stir fry and the chicken entree were a hit with all of us. I'll also guess that there are rarely leftovers at Tim's house. Michael has a healthy appetite too, but Tim is a bit scary sometimes – and that comment is coming to you from a growing girl with a hyper-metabolism.

Mom was set free after dinner while four of us cleaned up and the twins supervised; and then we went upstairs to the lounge for some more play time. Michael and I started out with a music practice for our upcoming Valentine's Day duet while Tim and Rowen mostly played video games with Ethan and Ehlana. We played some more active games with the twins after that, including a game of hide and seek that was mostly entertaining because Tim and Rowen managed to disappear for fifteen minutes or so when it was their turn to hide. There's a very good chance that it's for the best that we didn't find them – especially considering how happy they were when they did re-appear.

Some bouncing on my bed, toddler gymnastics, and tag were also part of our play time; which wrapped up when Dad got home so that we could all spend some time with him until it was time for Ethan and Ehlana to go to bed. After getting his bags and cases into the house, we spent nearly an hour catching up with him, but when it was time to get the twins ready for bed; Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I left Mom and Dad to do that with them – and have a little time just for the four of them while we came back up to the lounge and picked out our movie.

We had our snacks ready and the movie cued up when Mom and Dad stopped in to say goodnight to us before going to bed too. I can assure you that Dad was exhausted and they did go there to sleep. They didn't stay asleep, but as usual; feel free to use your imagination while I just move on and try not to think about that.

They certainly didn't need to worry about Michael and me tonight, and while we'd have been more than okay with some alone time tonight; we also always have fun with Rowen and Tim too. For Rowen and I, that included talking about doing a girls' night here this weekend – on Sunday night if we can work that out by then. The idea for that partly came about because Tim was talking about a football afternoon with the guys to watch the NFL playoff games. That'll mean we should have an easy time finding girls interested in doing anything else other than that; so we're going to start calling around in the morning – assuming we get parental approval first. I'm sure that Aunt Leanne would be interested in helping out with the makeover part of the night; and we could probably get Liz to join us too if we invite Naomi to be Ehlana's sleepover buddy. I really want to do this to give Rebecca something fun to do too, and we'll invite Jenny; but if she's busy; I'm sure we can find other girls who would love to join us.

We'll have fun with that if it works out, but then the cuddle time with our boyfriends tonight was really nice too; and watching the movie with them was a great way to end the school week and start our long weekend. They all went home by midnight; though Michael stayed long enough to share a lengthy goodnight kiss with me before making the run to his house with minutes to spare on his curfew. The lack of alone time with him has a lot to do with why I'm still awake and playing on my computer. Though I was going to take the weekend off, I still ended up doing some language studies – though that was through four internet chats in three different languages instead of actual lessons or reading books.

We have a work day ahead, and I really should get some sleep – even though Mom and Dad aren't right now; and might need to sleep in. I really shouldn't have sent my thoughts in that direction, so I'm going to wrap this up and try to switch my train of thought onto a different track before falling asleep – preferably one where Michael and I can enjoy some of that over-due alone time. True, that would just be a dream, but my photographic memory works just fine there too; and dreams can come true!

Anyway, it really is time to crash for awhile, so...

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

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Happy 70th Birthday, Grandpa!

Our morning chat with him – and Grandma – was fun, and though we didn't get to spend the day with him; I'm sure they're enjoying their weekend off in India.

They definitely had more fun sightseeing during their 'today' compared to our work day around the house; but the highlights of my day were getting our Sunday night plans worked out with Rowen and our friends and having a couple of hours of alone time with Michael after he was done work for the day – after Ethan and Ehlana were tucked in for the night.

The second part of that might have something to do with why I'm happily tired out and ready to get some sleep tonight instead of wide awake and needing to burn off some excess energy as I did last night. I'd be okay with feeling like this every night at bedtime, but then I probably wouldn't get much of my work or studies done; so it's probably a good thing that Michael and I don't get to have as much of that kind of play time as we'd like.

With our girls' night set up for tomorrow night, there's a good chance that alone time with Michael will be out for the rest of the weekend anyway; but I'm ready for some fun with my girlfriends; and Dad and Ethan are going to have a house full of girls here tomorrow night – though they're likely going to hang out with Uncle Adam and Zack after dinner while were doing our makeovers with Mom, Aunt Leanne, and Liz. I'll let you know how that turns out with my next journal update.

I skipped mentioning that the sleepover plans meant a bit of extra housework for me to get guest bedrooms ready; but that was easy enough – especially with a little Magi-powered assistance from Ethan and Ehlana that made that part of our day as much play time as work. The only break I took today other than meals was while Michael was on his afternoon break from the Inn; and we spent that time playing with the twins. Dad did most of his weekend homework this afternoon so that he can take most of Sunday and Monday off to have some fun with us; but we were all finished with our work by dinnertime.

That gave us time to play for a while; have another chat with Grandma and Grandpa while they got ready for his continuing birthday celebration that he insisted needed to continue until midnight our time; and watch a show on television before Michael came over from the Inn. We did the bedtime story and snack with Ethan and Ehlana and tucked them into their beds before coming up to the lounge to not watch a movie while we played.

I don't want to get too graphic about that and freak out any parents with tweens that might be reading this in the future; but our archives don't have much information about tween and teen relationships – and basically none from a girl's perspective – so I'll keep writing about our developing relationship to help out with that.

As I've mentioned before, being able to use our telepathy and empathy makes a really big difference when it comes to intimacy. Yes, we still have plenty of awkward moments as we learn and explore; but we also don't have any communications problems. I should mention that this requires a lot of trust and love from both of us; and might not be possible for many Magi couples – teens or adults. Sharing empathically, in particular, is very intimate, and while I wouldn't exactly say that Michael or I have a scary dark side to our most private thoughts and feelings, we are human; and being completely open with each other isn't always easy.

It is always worth it, though, so think about giving it a try if you haven't done so before – and it's an option for you.

I won't go into the details about the physical side of our relationship; but do have a few general comments. There's always girl chat going on at school about boys and relationships, and while Rowen and I don't ever talk about the intimate parts of our relationships with Michael and Tim with anyone except each other; some of the girls talk about their sex lives in great detail. I mention that because some guys may be oblivious to that fact; and because those chats give me some basis for comparison.

Let's just say that Michael and I are happy with the physical part of our relationship, and while Dad will probably still be glad not to know the details even as he reads this in the future some day; our level of intimacy is middle-of-the-road normal; without any of the wilder adventures that I've heard about around school – sometimes literally. I'm sorry if that's disappointing, Aunt Leanne, but then Michael and I do have some advantages that other kids don't; and telepathy and empathy aren't the only talents available to us to play with. ;^)

That's not something I want to write about tonight, though, and it's time for me to wrap this up and get some sleep. Michael and I finished not watching the movie by a bit after eleven; continued to play until eleven-thirty; and then we had a little chat with Mom and Dad in the living room before Michael went home and the rest of us came upstairs to our rooms. I've only done the basic computer and email checks tonight, though Rowen and I had a micro chat when she came online long enough to compare notes on our alone time with boyfriends evening; and update me on her end of the girls' night plans for tomorrow. Other than the play time with Michael, this has mostly been a fairly quiet day; but things are bound to be livelier tomorrow night; so I'm going to get started on that sleep time now so I'll be ready for the fun.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Congratulations to the Broncos, Seahawks, and their fans for winning their playoff games and making it to the Super Bowl!

Considering my general lack of enthusiasm for football, that might seem like a weird start to my update today; but that gets the football news out of the way so that I can move on to the good stuff – like our family play afternoon and the girls' night and sleepover.

Morning hugs and kisses with Michael, Tai Chi, and breakfast at his house all made for a really good start to the day too; though I had to rush around a bit to get showered and ready for church too between Tai Chi and breakfast. Church and Sunday school was fun and a little bit awkward as word got around quickly among the girls about our plans for tonight – with the awkward being because of the girls who wished they were going to be there too. I'll have to set up another night with the girls in our class to make up for that; but needed to mix it up this time because I really was thinking about Rebecca first; and she wouldn't have had nearly as much fun if none of the girls had been her friends too.

In case you're wondering, no, Vanessa and Nora did not give any signs of being upset at not being invited; though they might be ready to accept those invitations when I do set up that next girls' night. Maybe I'll do that during March Break. Mom and Ehlana might be okay with monthly girls' nights, but Dad probably isn't; and Ethan isn't quite old enough yet to appreciate them the way he might when Ehlana and their friends are my age.

Moving along from that thought; I walked with Michael to the Inn after church, and then continued on home. Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and Zack had lunch with us, and then we had some outdoor play time at the park and a walk until it was time for the guys to go watch football. Michael joined them for that while on his afternoon break, and Mom, Aunt Leanne, and I kept busy getting everything ready for our girls' night while Zack had a nap and the twins split their time between the living room and supervising our work in the kitchen, lounge, or my room. I went to the Inn with Michael to help out with dinner, and though I was co-hosting the girls' night with Rowen; I didn't go to the early buffet at the Inn so that Rebecca and I could instead be set free early – right after the first wave of food went out to the dining room for the second buffet sitting.

All of the other girls – including Rowen – did join my family for dinner; and half of them were there with their own families too. Rowen assured me that I missed out on a lot of fun with that, and I'm sure that I did; but I always have fun working with Michael and Rebecca, and regular hugs and kisses with Michael make up for a lot when missing out on other things. It was also worth the work to see how happy Rebecca was tonight – and all of the other girls too.

Dad, Uncle Adam, and any other football fans that went to the first buffet missed the end of the first game and start of the second, though they still caught most of the action thanks to an abundance of cell phones and iPads tuned into the games – or at least the ESPN gamecast. While they could have watched the game in the living room at our house, Dad and Ethan opted to go watch the game with Uncle Adam and Zack at their house instead. That made our place guy-free for a few hours; and the fun had already started by the time Rebecca and I got there.

Rowen and I only invited Sally and Gretchen from our class, and Naomi and Sophia were added for Ehlana. We had a back-up plan, but Jenny decided to join the party after finding out that Erica Bassett and Anna-Marie Palmer had agreed to come. While we hadn't planned on it at first, since her sister and cousins were all going to be here tonight; we added Jessica to the guest list so that she wouldn't feel left out; and that led to including Lindsay Faulkner so that Jessica would have a friend her own age.

Mom, Aunt Leanne, and Liz were already working on the first makeovers in my room when Rebecca and I got there; the first movie was cued up and ready to go; and my Jacuzzi was also in use – as it was pretty much all evening as eight out of thirteen of us took turns enjoying a hot, soothing soak in the tub either before or after their mini-makeovers.

It was chick flick movies all the way, but we started with a toddler-appropriate, animated romance that Ehlana, Naomi, and Sophia all watched before their turn for makeovers. Since girls of all ages love Disney princesses and the happily-ever-after stories; they had lots of company – and cuddle buddies. The second movie was a total, teen-rated chick flick; but we had a music video intermission that lasted until the younger girls went to bed before starting that show.

There was a lot going on tonight that I won't be able to cover here without really dragging this update out; so I'll just mention some personal highlights.

Whether she realizes it or not, Jenny has changed quite a bit since last summer – and especially since starting high school and becoming a cheerleader. I liked that she was back to acting like Rebecca's best friend tonight. Maybe this will help to remind her of what she's been missing out on while spending so much time with Garth and their new circle of football players and cheerleaders while leaving Rebecca mostly on her own.

I also loved hanging out with Sally and Gretchen tonight; and need to make more of an effort to do that with them – something that isn't always easy when they're out in the country; and especially during the winter. There really isn't any good reason for why Rowen and I didn't hop on our bikes more often and ride out to their farms – or invite them to come into town and hang out with us more often than just at birthday parties or special events. Add yet one more item to the list for things that I need to do better.

One thing that the Magi council would be happy about, other than my getting involved more, is that we had a pretty good mix of Magi and non-Magi. Having a mixed group did give me a chance for some more observation, and while I'm always aware of my own interaction with others; it's interesting to see how other Magi act around their friends – especially since they don't know which are and aren't Magi too. There are obviously a lot of other factors that go into inter-personal relationships; but while the more socially-extroverted girls probably don't dwell on the Magi part of their lives very much; others are more guarded and less open because of their special gifts. I haven't noticed that factors such as whether kids or teens have Magi parents or not makes a difference; but I may look into whether Magi training has an impact. In Rowen's case, I think that it did; though she's naturally very shy anyway.

Rowen, Sally, Gretchen, and I didn't spend as much personal time with the four older girls as we did together; but we weren't two completely separate groups either. I'm getting to know Erica better through Michael and his family, and while Anna-Marie has always been friendly with me; I've probably spent more time around her brothers because of Erica and Christina. They're both going to be more important and connected to my family in the future; but I'll leave that thought there just in case anyone reads this before those future events come to pass.

I should mention that it wasn't all work and no fun for Mom, Aunt Leanne, and Liz. They had their turns for mini-makeovers too; watched the movie with us after putting Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Sophia to bed; and then had a bedtime snack with us before either going home to their favorite boys – or in Mom's case; off to bed with Dad while my friends and I wrapped up our night with some music videos and girl chat time. That started to wrap up when Jessica fell asleep and Erica and Anna-Marie took care of getting her and Lindsay over to their room and tucked in for the night. They went to bed too shortly after that, and so did Rebecca and Rowen; leaving just Rowen, Gretchen, Sally, and me in the lounge. Sally and Gretchen were camping out on the sectional sofa, so Rowen and I talked with them for another half hour or so; and then we came into my room after we all took turns in the bathroom. There's going to be some major laundry to get done tomorrow; but I'll worry about helping Mom with that in the morning.

Since we have a house full of guests, and two friends in the lounge; I've only been doing the very basic computer checks tonight. Rowen and Mandy have already fallen asleep, and I need to join them soon; but I should add a college teens update too before wrapping this up for the night.

While our favorite collegians have been back to school for a while now, the last handful of teens headed back to school this weekend; and will start their next semester on Tuesday. Whether about to resume classes or already into them; this was apparently a fairly crazy weekend at pretty much every campus. Three-day weekends are apparently an excuse for at least two solid days of partying, and even after months of exposure to college life; our home-town teens are still regularly amazed by the weird and wacky going on around them at school.

That wasn't as big of a deal for Jake and Stephanie, since while they did hang out on campus at both of their schools they were also spending the weekend together too; and more interested in alone time at their hotel than partying all night with their new friends. Violet and Dillon stayed on campus and didn't get to do sleepovers, but they also did more studying than playing; which is why they won't need to study all day tomorrow while a lot of their friends will be cramming to get work done in time for classes on Tuesday. Christina and Josiah split the difference and spent one night away from school; though that news flash came from Anna-Marie. I'm sure that Christina was just having too much fun to remember to send her usual Sunday night update – or maybe she's holding off until tomorrow night because of the long weekend. I know they're having fun, but I think that I prefer my first round of college – home-schooled, and without all of the extra-curricular teen weirdness. When it's time for my 'real' college education; I'll let you know if I change my mind about that.

I guess that's about it for tonight. Other than a big breakfast in the morning, Rowen and I don't have any specific plans other than to spend the day with Michael and Tim. Since we do have the extra day this weekend, I'll save the look ahead for next week until tomorrow night. For now I'm just ready to put my computer away and get some sleep, so...

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

Monday, January 20, 2014

It's Martin Luther King Day, but as I've mentioned before, it isn't a big event here in Witch Falls; particularly among the kids and teens. That isn't because we're insensitive to how important Doctor King was – and still is – to millions of people; but it's also understandable that our general lack of personal experience with racism, other than through movies and media, affects our perspective. We did have an assignment to research and write up today for school, but that didn't take long to do; and we got it out of the way this morning.

My day started out great; and not just because of good morning kisses with Michael before Tai Chi. Naomi wanted to exercise with us, and that was fun; but it was finding out that she ended up spending most of the night in Ethan's room was very entertaining. She'd picked the sleeping bag on the floor in Ehlana's room while Ehlana and Sophia took the beds, but after finding out how uncomfortable that was; she went into Ethan's room and climbed into his spare bed. It was obvious to some of us that Ethan had been aware of her being in his room, and Naomi was not at all worried about being found there this morning. She also didn't mind getting teased about it by the other girls during breakfast; though Ethan spent a lot of time blushing – and grinning shyly.

Since we had Naomi with us today, Michael and I did a basic lesson with her, Ethan, and Ehlana while Mom and Dad did their own workout. After that, Michael went to help Dad with making breakfast and Ethan supervised them while the rest of us started working on wake-up calls and taking turns in the bathrooms while getting ready for the day. With three bathrooms, not including Mom and Dad's, that took a while; and breakfast was ready and on the dining room table by the time I got downstairs with the last group of girls.

While Ethan and Naomi got teased a lot, Michael and I were a close second; partly because Jenny started a round of jokes and commentary about whether Michael could get away with sleepovers in my room now that Ethan had spent the night with a girl in his room. Michael might wish that he'd gone home for breakfast, but it was the most entertaining breakfast we've had at our house in a while; and I can't help but smile at the idea of having Michael as a sleepover cuddle buddy – even if that won't happen anytime soon.

I was on the clean-up crew after breakfast, and Michael went home to hit the shower and get ready for our play day with Rowen and Tim. Let's not mention the invitations for him to stay and have his shower here – or the girl chat about him after he left. I will mention that all of the girls generally agree that I'm a very lucky girl; he has at least one or two younger girls crushing on him; and two of my older friends joked that they'd try to steal him from me if it wasn't for the fact that he was too-closely related to one of them; and too young for the other – at least for now.

That implied potential future change of heart was only meant to tease me; but I'm not worried anyway. There are some advantages to being a Magi Master – even if the responsibilities are sometimes really tough.

Mom and Dad both got involved with giving rides home to all of the girls who didn't live on our street; and they headed out with a van and truck load at about the same time that Michael and Tim came over to hang out with Rowen and me. We were still busy for another fifteen minutes after they left before Rebecca, Anna-Marie, Jessica, Lindsay, and Sophia left and walked home – or home with her cousin in Lindsay's case; but then we got started on that last homework assignment. Ethan, Ehlana, and Naomi were still with us, so they played video games in the lounge while we worked; and then went to hang out with Mom and Dad after they got home again.

I'd already pre-researched a lot of what we needed, so we only needed to track down some current events news to add to our reports before writing them up. That didn't take long, and then we were free for the rest of the day. Naomi was picked up while we were deciding what to do next, so we ended up taking Ethan and Ehlana for a walk to the park; mostly to give Mom and Dad a break after a busy morning with a house full of kids and teens. I'll skip over the bonus teasing that Naomi got from her mother; though I should mention that there was also a big smile and possibly an implied 'that's my girl!' in there among the jokes and feigned astonishment. It's no wonder that Liz and Aunt Leanne get along so well.

We ended up hanging out around the park until nearly lunchtime, and then came back here to have what ended up being a pizza picnic lunch in the lounge with a big side dish of video gaming for the guys. Since Dad had the day off, and his homework done; we spent a lot of the afternoon with him and Mom – and with Michael's and Rowen's parents too when we all ventured outdoors for some more fresh-air play time. Michael and I were having dinner and spending the evening at his house; so Rowen and Tim moved on to her house when it was time to go to our various homes for dinner. They were splitting their time between her house and his tonight; and I wasn't surprised at their choice to eat with her parents and spend the evening with his. Yes, Rowen and I did talk a little while ago, and yes; she got to have more alone time with her boyfriend tonight than I did with mine.

What we did instead was great, though; so I'm not complaining. Dinner was as awesome as always; Michael and I did my guitar lesson and practiced for our upcoming duet; and we had a really nice chat with his parents and Rebecca before it was time for me to head home and get started on my usual school night routine. I was home in time to do the bedtime snack and story with Ethan and Ehlana; Mom followed that up with a lengthy Healing lesson; and then I got started on my bedtime studies and computing – while having a nice long soak in my Jacuzzi.

I got through my archive homework while in the tub, and then took a break while doing my hair and getting ready for bed. My self-imposed time limit for language study was an hour, but then I ended up spending an hour and a half after that on some family business work. That wasn't critical, but I did get into it; and just kept going until I'd finished working through the project and approving the multi-million dollar investment. The details would probably just bore you, so I'll just add that I'm very sure that I more than earned my salary today with that little blast of business fun – for about the next six months.

Maybe I should get Aunt Leanne to renegotiate my contract! I'm just kidding, Mom. ;^)

Anyway, that's about it for the action tonight. I had more email from around the family; but nothing particularly newsworthy. A short school and work week is always a good thing, and we'll have some busy to go with it because Liz Seager's birthday is on Thursday, and then Michael, Rowen, Tim, and I are all invited to Lisa's birthday party on Friday. Rowen and I are also probably going to do a sleepover at her house after the party, so with all of that, and game night at the Inn; we should have a couple of really fun days to end the week with. We don't have any major weekend plans; but I'd be okay with a quieter couple of days so that we can rest up for the month of busy weekends we'll have after that – starting with the Super Bowl weekend when Mom and her friends will be away and having fun in California.

I'm ready for some down time now that the work high is wearing off; so that's it for tonight; and I'm off to dreamland – where there's a very good chance that Michael will be waiting for me in a very happy sleepover buddy kind of dream.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

The girls' night at my house was a top story for some of the girls at school today; though I'm not sure whether that's because it was a slow news day or Rowen and I managed to pull off a socially successful event. Either way, I am glad that our friends had fun; Rebecca did seem to be happier today; and she and Jenny seem to be a bit better today too.

It was no surprise to anyone that football was the top news story for the guys, and Michael and Tim were right in the middle of that – especially during their weight training with Kyle and the other guys this morning and at lunchtime. While there are quite a few Peyton Manning supporters among the guys, they're mostly rooting for the injury-comeback story – or they're Colts fans wishing he was still playing for Indianapolis. That's likely why the Broncos have the edge in support here for the Super Bowl; but neither team really has any die-hard fans in Witch Falls. That won't put a damper on any Super Bowl parties around here; but there would be more enthusiasm if other favored teams were going to be in 'the show' this year.

We had a fairly quiet day at school; though this is a long weekend that really doesn't feel like one – at least compared to the big, summer holidays or Thanksgiving. Band practices are fun – especially now that we have some experience with concerts and parades that make all of the work feel worthwhile. Tim feels a bit left out while Michael, Rowen, and I are at band practice, but he manages to stay entertained while waiting for our study session at the computer store – whether that's watching basketball practices in the gym or hanging out with other teens around the school.

There isn't anything exciting to report from doing our homework; though we did get to do a tour of the future data center after the work crew wrapped up for the day; and it's coming along great so far. They still have six weeks to go before the grand opening plans for the first weekend in March, and a lot of the work won't seem to be as dramatic as the remodel is; but it's still cool to watch it all come together. Rowen's parents won't ever be rivaling Google or Microsoft for data storage capacity, but they are going to have some cutting-edge technology that's really cool – literally if you count the special air-conditioning and liquid-cooled systems for the servers.

Michael and I needed to make that tour fairly short because we needed to be back at my house in time for dinner. One of the reasons we were hanging out at my house tonight was so that we could do a joint Magi lesson with Mom. I love working with Rowen too when we get the chance to do that, but it's even more special with Michael – especially when we get to create things together. That feels very much the same as it does when we're playing music, singing, or doing our Tai Chi forms.

If Mo and I are both still around whenever you read this in our future, remind me to thank her for agreeing to go on that detour to check out this amazing little town with what I thought was an ironic name at the time; just in case I haven't done that lately in your 'now'. Talk about a tiny little decision having a life-changing impact! That's actually a perfect example of why the Sight can be so difficult to use when even a seemingly unimportant choice turns out to have an enormous impact on the future. In case you're wondering, yes, I wanted to make that side trip and felt good about doing it; but I also had absolutely no clue about what was to come in those next months. That changed the first time Ethan and Ehlana had me use my Sight together with them, but as I've mentioned before - keep in mind that what we do see is still what's supposed to happen; not necessarily what will.

Moving along, we didn't do anything fancy for dinner – just soup and bakery bun mini-subs; so the clean-up that Michael and I took care of was easy. Mom did Ethan and Ehlana's Magi lesson first, so Michael and I had our music practice then before taking our turn at some Magi play time. The council is taking baby steps with new Magi training, and it would be impossible for Mom to do lessons with all of the kids and teens anyway; but Michael is really making remarkable progress. Dad, Aunt Leanne, and Uncle Adam have learned a lot since they started working with Mom and me, but they've also needed to adapt and even unlearn habits that hold them back from full use of their abilities. Michael and Rowen have been much more adaptable and accepting of new techniques; and that's helping them to become more powerful Magi than they would have been without Mom's help.

That makes me wonder how that will affect Gwyneth. I'm certainly not suggesting that being trained by Corwyn Hathorne would have been better for her, since I sure didn't want that for myself and wouldn't wish it on anyone; but Gawain and Kellie are as limited in their abilities to train her as the Magi here would have been if they'd attempted to train me without the archives or Mom's knowledge and experience. Add to that the fact that Gwyneth is so much more powerful than her tutors and has shown some real lack of morality from what we know; and it's a bit scary to think about how wild and dangerous she could turn out to be – not to mention the risks to everyone around her if she just experiments with her abilities and learns what she can do by trial and error. I sometimes wish that there was something I could do to help Gwyneth, since we are related; but I don't think she'd accept what I'd have to offer – even if doing that was possible now.

That train of thought brings up a lot of what-might-have-been possibilities; but I really don't want to go there – especially right before I go to sleep. I do occasionally have nightmares about what life might have been like for me if I'd grown up as Kirsten Hathaway; and try not to think about that very often.

The good news is that I can dream about the bit of alone time that Michael and I had tonight after we did the bedtime routing with Ethan and Ehlana. We only had a half hour or so for that because he wanted to get home early; and I was okay with getting an early start on my bedtime studies and work; but we did our very best to take advantage of every minute we did have; and we were happy campers by the time he headed home. I got changed; climbed into bed with Mandy; and spent the last, not-quite three hours getting all of my studies done. It's not that far past one o'clock, but I'm ahead of my study and work schedule; and even got some of my family business work done that was on my plate for after-school tomorrow. That works, since we have a family business and future plans meeting after dinner tomorrow; and I'd like to have an early night to get some extra sleep ahead of a couple of birthday party days on Thursday and Friday.

It's a good thing this is just a four-day school week; or I'd need to sleep for half the weekend to catch up from all of the action! Getting some down time right now sounds pretty good too, though, so...

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

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Compared to what we were doing at our family business and future plans meeting tonight, nothing else that happened today was very important; so I'm just going to cover the evening highlights and skip the non-news from an otherwise uneventful day.

Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, Uncle Nick, and Aunt Deborah were our only attendees tonight; and they even had Leah and Zack spending a few hours with their respective, available grandparents to make it easier to keep the meeting going without major interruptions.

Though we still have lots of winter left to go, we have things to do over the next couple of months that are really going to be fun to watch happen. For Ethan and Ehlana, the Solar-Wind Farm project is right at the top of the list; and we'll be ready to hire the manager for it by the end of February. While it's a pet project for them, they're also happy about who we're going to offer that job to because it's going to make a huge difference for one of their KidZone and Sunday school friends and his family. The ground-breaking for the power farm won't start until the end of March, but we'll have all of the equipment and crews ready to go by then; and our new manager will be able to hit the ground running.

The first ground-breaking project this spring is going to be the Witch Falls Professional Building that will house the new medical and dental center along with a handful of other businesses. It'll be next to the lab to the east side; approximately at the bend in the river and across the road from the new section of town. That's obviously Uncle Adam's second-favorite future plans project next to the lab; and he and Uncle Mark are going to have a very cool new place to practice medicine – with a lot of new toys that most small-town doctors could only dream of having. They still have nearly a year and a half to go before they'll be able to move into the new medical center; though we're actually going to have Uncle Mark co-ordinate a lot of the finishing work on that project because Uncle Adam will be busy with the lab – both this spring and summer with the set-up, and with actual research when it opens in September.

I guess we might as well keep going with the lab while we're there anyway. The interior infrastructure is pretty much done now; and the floor plan construction is in full swing. While the most-secure bio labs in the basement were modules, the labs, offices, and greenhouse on the second floor are all being built now; as are the main floor offices and conference rooms that will mostly house Aunt Grace and her administrative and operations staff. Researchers and lab techs will mostly be on the second floor; while the level five labs in the basement will not really get a lot of 'official' use at first.

Ethan is fairly fired up about the progress in the lower two basement levels, since that's where our archives will have their new home; and the work there is ahead of schedule. We'll wait until the construction crews are finished before moving any of our archive books there; but we'll probably be ready for the first deliveries by Easter – when Grandma Eleanor and Grandpa Grant are due home from their next archive packing and retrieval trip.

A little further out still is going to be Mom's work at the lab with the computer systems, but that ties into the plans we worked on tonight for college teen summer jobs. Violet and Dillon are at the top of the list for that, and while we're going to talk Aunt Grace into hiring Violet for the summer to work with her; Uncle Adam is going to hire Dillon to help out with the lab and greenhouse set-ups. Mom's going to hire Andrew Jennings to help out with the computer work; though she may have him work with Owen too – both with hardware set-up and maybe at Emerson's new data center so that Andrew can learn about that side of the systems that will be nearly identical to those she's putting together for the lab and medical center.

If Andrew thought our home office was cool; he's going to be delirious when he sees the high-tech we're bringing to town over the next few years! That's a good thing; since we have plans for Dillon's future brother-in-law.

We haven't planned anything specific right now for Christina McEwan, but expect that she'll want to find a job here next summer and be close to Josiah. While having her do something for the family business is an option; she could also work at the Emporium or somewhere else in town too – like for Josiah's Aunt Abby; so we're not worrying about that right now. There will be some other teen jobs being offered at the lab; but I won't go over every one of them tonight.

The only other big project on the go right now is the first apartment building; and it's on-track to be ready for first move-ins by the end of June. Aunt Leanne and Claire will have a showroom apartment available to them by Easter, and while some of the units will be rented to locals; Aunt Leanne expects to have most of the apartments rented to construction workers – particularly the men and women who want to bring spouses to live here while they're working the bigger projects. We'll have some new house rentals that will help with that problem for families; but we're not taking that into consideration to any major degree for the new home build-out plan. We don't want to build too far ahead of what the town will need.

There will be new homes and townhouses built this year, and that'll start in the spring again too, but some of those homes – or the land – are pre-sold; while others will accommodate the influx of new permanent residents that will come this year with the dozens of new jobs that will be created at the lab and elsewhere around town. Most of those new homes will likely be move-up sales for locals too; so it'll be a busy year in real estate for Aunt Leanne and Claire; as well as even more work for Dad on the legal side of those sales.

On the financial front for the family business, all of this work means that we have a pile of money going out this year with minimal income, and that's going to continue for another couple of years; but we're not doing any of this for the money anyway – even though we will eventually make a lot of it through the products developed at the lab. The only part of these projects that seems strange to me is that we're actually spending that money so close to home and seeing the impact with our friends and neighbors. We have larger projects on the go all of the time, with the same kind of initial outflows of cash, and though what we're doing here is different; the long-term impact is going to be immense, amazing, and world-changing.

Yes, Ethan, Ehlana, and I do know something, but I can't write about that here; since this journal will likely be available to other Magi here before a lot of what we can 'see' comes to pass.

Speaking of that, there are a few things coming up soon that we didn't talk about at the meeting; but that's only because we don't want to spoil any surprises for Mom, Dad, or our aunts and uncles. I'm sure that you, future reader, either know, or can check, what's going to be big news for my family and around town over the next few months; so you'll understand why my brother, sister, and I are so excited about everything that's going to be happening this year.

That is pretty much all I have from the meeting. After our uncles and aunts left for their homes, I helped Mom with Ethan and Ehlana's bedtime routine while Dad got some work done in the office. She did my Magi lesson once the twins were tucked in for the night; and then I got started on my bedtime studies and computing after getting changed and into bed with Mandy. I haven't gotten as much work done tonight as I wanted to do, but I'm still ahead this week; and too tired to stay up any later tonight.

I may not even get much more studying or work done this week, but fun with my friends and family is going to come first for the next couple of days; and I can always work a bit harder next week if needed. Right now, I'm just going to work on some quality unconscious time, so...

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

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Happy 30th Birthday, Liz!

I'm sure she's had a happy day too; but we won't write about what she might be doing with her kid-free night while Naomi is with us and Eli is with Uncle Nick and Aunt Deborah.

The reason I'm sure she's having a great day is because he top birthday gift was finding out that she's going on the girls' weekend away with Mom, Aunt Leanne, and the other women. There were at least a few people in her family in on the surprise; since half of her gifts just happened to be perfect for a weekend of sun and fun – especially the spending money that should more than cover her expenses and some quality shopping time.

I wasn't actually there for the gift opening or birthday dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Ayres' house because I was helping out at the Inn instead; but they brought the birthday party to the Inn for game night, and Miranda had a second birthday cake there for the main snack option. Before I get to that, though; let's cover the rest of the daily recap to that point.

While Mr. Ayres was having a good day because his older sister was hitting the big three-oh; his students were mostly getting excited about Lisa's thirteenth birthday party tomorrow night. Weekend parties are always more fun; mostly because we get to keep the fun going later than most parents allow on a school night. Football is mercifully on the back burner right now; though I'm sure that'll kick up into high gear again next week in the lead-up to the Super Bowl.

It was a pretty quiet morning at home before school, and there isn't much exciting happening in our classes right now either; though we are pushing through quite a bit of work right now. That's probably because we'll get into Valentine's Day mode by early February; and our teachers want to push the core lessons while they can – just as they will do between Valentine's Day and Easter.

We had a fair bit of homework to get done tonight, so Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I worked on that at the Inn until Michael and I really needed to stop and help out in the kitchen. I could have gone to Liz's birthday dinner, but new that her parents already had a full house; and one less kid just made it a tiny bit easier for them – or two guests; since Miranda would have let Michael go with me.

I didn't really feel as though I was missing out on anything tonight because I wouldn't have gotten to spend much time with Liz anyway; though hanging out with the toddlers or helping with the babies would have been fun. Working in the kitchen with Michael and Rebecca was great too, though; and I'm always glad to get that time with them – and with Jacob and Miranda.

The dinner crowd was light again this week; so we had lots of time to get the work done and the dining room cleaned and set up for game night before the usual gang started showing up – plus the extras who came specifically to help Liz celebrate her big day. While her big birthday gift was a top story, my favorite part of that was knowing that two more Moms were going to get that same surprise next Thursday night – and both women were at the Inn tonight; lamenting that they couldn't go on the trip too. I'd like to be a fly on the wall when they find out; but Mom probably won't let me use a time-phase or transmutation to do the next-best thing. Then again, maybe I wouldn't want to be there; depending on how enthusiastic the thank-you responses might be! ;^)

Let's not go there and move on. Game night was more entertaining with the bonus birthday party action. Liz might have liked to add a game night championship to her birthday memories, but she was too distracted most of the time to pay much attention to the gaming; so she and Philip didn't even place top ten. Michael and I did a bit better than that with a top three finish in the junior championship; but then we spent as much time playing with Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden as we did playing the games.

I would have liked to have some more time with Michael after the games were finished, but Mom and Dad needed my help with four toddlers and overnight gear for two of them, so we went home right after the championships were announced; and I had to settle for a very unsatisfying, public good night hug and kiss with Michael right before we left the Inn. Ethan, Ehlana, and their sleepover buddies kept me too busy to think about that too much while we did an extended bedtime routine with them that included a group Magi lesson; but that lack of Michael and me time has a lot to do with why I'm still awake now – and managed to get a lot of studying and work done tonight too.

That hadn't been part of my plan for tonight, but I wasn't going to be sleeping anyway; so I went with putting that unused energy to productive use – though a time-phase visit to Michael's house did cross my mind a time or three. It's past-time for me to get some sleep, though; so maybe I'll get to that – and at least there's a good chance that I'll see Michael there; preferably in ways that I wish we were getting to share more often in real life.

Until next time...

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

Friday, January 24, 2014

Happy 13th Birthday, Lisa!

I'll get to the news of the day – and Lisa's party – in a minute; but I have our Magi Project on my mind right now, and want to write about that first.

The main reason for that is because I found what I sensed with Lisa's family particularly interesting – especially after getting to spend a handful of hours around them as a group. Lisa is part of the extended Byrd clan, but there aren't any Magi in her immediate family line – including back at least through her grandparents on the Byrd side of her family. That's a little unusual to not even have a single Magi in a branch of the tree for any of the original families; and I may have picked up some hints about why that happened – at least in this case. We'd actually need to do genetic testing that might not be possible anytime soon even with the lab opening this year; though that doesn't even include the whole issue of whether the Magi talents can even be genetically mapped – or affected.

For Lisa's family, while the 'children' are all latents; key members have particularly weak auras. Two of those 'parents' married 'normal' partners, and while that didn't mean that all children had weaker latent auras than their parents; it apparently has seriously weakened the genetic potential. That might even be true if the kids had or someday have a Magi mate. That dilution of potential isn't something new, but the hints I picked up tonight might be; and could help our understanding of the situation here in Witch Falls.

First of all, we've spent some considerable time studying the concept of perfect matches in the context of developing stronger Magi; but haven't really thought about the possibility that a perfect match could have the opposite effect too. I'll admit that I hadn't considered that at all before tonight, but if you think about it for a while; it does make some sense. There are certainly cases we've looked at where evidence suggests that partner incompatibility affected the Magi potential of the children; but tonight I was able to study several examples of near-perfect aura matches with very happy couples – and I suspect that every one of them also detrimentally affected the latent potential for Magi abilities in their children.

There are certainly a lot of reasons why the proportion of Magi in the total Witch Falls population has declined over the centuries, and while this one needs a lot of study; it could explain at least part of the mystery surrounding the hit or miss nature surrounding the births of so many of the Magi – or lack of them in families where they'd be expected. I'll write more about this in the Magi Project archive; so mosey on over there if you're interested in more details about our research.

Moving on to the daily report, Roger did a pretty good job in the boyfriend department this morning by having flowers, a birthday cupcake, and a little gift on Lisa's desk this morning by the time we went into home room. That got him razzed by the guys, but earned points with all of the girls; and Lisa was very happy. That got our school day off to an entertaining start; but then we got to work and were kept busy all day except for a mini-party lunch for Lisa that included more Olde Bakery cupcakes and some gifts from friends who weren't going to Lisa's party – plus a second little gift from Roger. That was seriously putting his reputation in danger with the other guys; but he didn't seem to care – or at least he preferred the hugs and kisses from his girlfriend.

Those guys can joke all they want; but I'll guess that they were all taking notes too.

We had about an hour between the end of school and the start of Lisa's party, so that meant skipping our after-school study session so that Rowen and I could get ready for it instead. Yes, Michael and Tim went home to do that too; but they needed about ten minutes to get changed while Rowen and I spent closer to forty-five before Michael and I collected Rowen, then Tim, on our way to Lisa's house. It's winter, so we were dressed accordingly, but while the guys might prefer sundresses, shorts and tees, or swimsuits like we can do for summer parties; Michael and Tim were appreciative enough of the cuddle factor that comes with the soft, warm sweaters that Rowen and I chose for tonight.

A few of our friends were already there by the time we got to Lisa's home, along with her younger brothers, sister, mother, and a few party work volunteers. After dropping off our gifts in the dining room and stopping into the kitchen for the usual 'passing-through' visit with the adults; we moved on to the family room where video gaming was already in progress. As usual, the guys mostly had control of the gaming system while the girls watched on, listened to music, and talked about everything from the latest celebrity gossip and scandals to weekend plans and local grapevine news.

Lisa's father worked until six o'clock, so we had time to play before dinner. While we're still a long way from being buddies, and I'm sure that my invitation to the party only came because Lisa wanted Michael there; she and I are getting along much better now. It's still occasionally a little uncomfortable for me when I see her look at Michael with sad, wistful eyes, but then I noticed tonight that I have company in that boat; and it's probably harder for Roger to see that than it is for me. In a way, he's competing with Michael for Lisa's affection; though only in the sense of what might have been – or more specifically, what Lisa had dreamed about having with Michael. I'm fairly sure that she'll always have a soft place in her heart for Michael, and I'm okay with that, but if Roger keeps doing what he's doing; he won't need to worry about how Lisa feels about any other guys.

Dinner was a buffet, fill plates and go event; mostly because there were too many guests and helpers to feed everyone at the dining room and kitchen tables. Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I were among the teens that did sit down in the dining room; but Lisa's younger brothers were allowed to join the video gaming while we ate; and they had about half of the guys with them and willing to compete while taking turns demolishing plates full of food.

I wonder if the government has ever considered the need for subsidies when birthday parties have more than ten teenage boys attending? There really ought to be at least a little tax write-off for the parents! Let's not name anyone specifically, but Lisa would've needed to get precious gems gifts or something equally valuable to cover the cost of food for between two and four of the guys. I'm seriously considering upping my birthday gift budget this year to compensate – though that doesn't really help the parents much. Maybe I'll come up with something else for them – like giving them bottles of wine instead. In this case, I actually know for sure that Lisa's parents and the other adult volunteers were ready for cold, adult beverages by the time they'd cleaned up from dinner, the cake and ice cream, and Lisa's gift-opening mini-marathon.

Note to future parents: encourage your teen kids attending big parties to buy group gifts for friends. Most of us don't have attention spans that last through opening thirty or forty gifts – we save that up for important things like video games. ;^)

While the guys ruled the Playstation before dinner, Lisa had other plans when we moved back into the family room – starting with a Guitar Hero competition. I'm sure that she didn't do that specifically with Michael in mind; but he fairly convincingly destroyed the competition – which wasn't at all surprising considering that he's by far the best guitar player in our school right now. We followed that up with some video game dancing, and then got to the only weird part of the night for me – a karaoke video game.

Michael and I really love singing together, but there's a big difference between doing that at home or even singing in front of a big audience and singing in front of a small group of your peers.

In our case, that's because we got a very different reaction to our duet than anyone else got. That was good and bad – especially when most of the adults joined us in the family room to listen to Michael and me. The bad included getting royally razzed by Tim and some of the other guys, and Lisa was teary-eyed for good and bad reasons. I'm seriously tempted to back off from any public singing; but that probably won't happen now that the cat's out of the bag about this particular shared talent.

There were a few more attempts at karaoke, but there wasn't as much enthusiasm for stepping up to the microphone and following Michael and me; so we moved on to the chick flick movie that was the last main activity of the evening. That worked for all of the girls, and the guys didn't mind the cuddle time with their girls; but half of them also heckled their way through the show to the point where it was more than a little annoying.

I really hope that every guy reading this knows better by now since you're all adults, but if you haven't; get with the program – we girls love our happy ending love stories; and you'll be happier too even if you have to fake it and pretend to be interested. There were definitely some boyfriends in the doghouse by the time we all headed home after the party tonight.

Though Rowen and I are having our sleepover at her house, we split up for most of the walk home so that she could have a little alone time with Tim while I walked with Michael to his house. Their goodnight moments took longer than ours because Michael was inside and possibly in bed, and I was sitting on her front porch steps already when Rowen caught up with me at about twenty-after-twelve.

Everyone at her house had gone to bed by then, but her Mom joined us for some girl chat time shortly after we were in Rowen's room and getting ready for bed. Patrick had Scott staying over too, which wasn't a surprise; but if they were still awake; they didn't try bothering us tonight. Maybe we really have passed through the worst of that stage with them. Patricia wanted the party report, and told us about her evening; but then went back to bed and left us to wind down while snuggled in Rowen's bed with our computers fired up and ready for action.

For me, that just meant doing the usual, light version of my nightly computer checks and this update while Rowen played YouTube vids and we did our own, more detailed recap of the party. It's heading toward two o'clock now, and we're both working in the morning – either at the computer store and data center or at home; so I need to wrap this up and we both need some sleep. Other than some alone time with Michael tomorrow night after he's done at the Inn and that work, I don't have much planned for tomorrow, but I do want to be wide awake for that alone time opportunity; so that's all for tonight, folks.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Tai Chi for one, breakfast with Rowen and her family, and a little play time before heading home this morning was a great start to the day. The morning work session was mostly fun too as there was some Magi play time involved for Ethan, Ehlana, and me. Michael and I had some play time with Rowen, Tim, Ethan, and Ehlana during his afternoon break; but it was pretty quiet around the house during the hours surrounding lunch and dinner today.

Mom did Magi lessons with Ethan, Ehlana, and I after dinner, and then Michael came over in time to help with Ethan and Ehlana's bedtime routine – including their baths. He and I tucked them in for the night on our way up to the lounge; and then we spent nearly two hours enjoying some quality him and me play time while semi-watching a movie.

That made for an amazing end to the day for me that I don't want to spoil with a lot of studying, work, or computer time; so that's all I have for tonight and I'm off to enjoy what I'm sure will be some very pleasant dreams!

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Time for another micro-update.

Morning Tai Chi was more fun with Michael and my family; he stayed for breakfast with us for a change; and then we had a really good morning at church with our family, friends, and neighbors.

The main event for my afternoon was a make-up study session with Michael, Tim, and Rowen to deal with the homework we didn't do on Friday night while at Lisa's party instead. I helped out at the Inn with Michael after that, but only stayed until the food for the second buffet went out to the dining room before heading home and getting an early start on my Magi lesson and school night studies and work.

That's why I was in bed and doing my language studies by shortly after nine; and have even more work done than I'd planned even though it's just closing in on midnight now. I'm still past-ready for the extra down-time, though, so...

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

Monday, January 27, 2014

It certainly got cold again in a hurry overnight; and the freezing temperatures seem a bit harder to deal with this year because of the flip-flops between frozen and near-spring weather.

Helping Michael to warm up from his walk before Tai Chi was fun; but the walk to school with Rowen and Rebecca wasn't quite as much fun because of the cold. The deep freeze seemed to put a damper on things at school too; and not just because only a very few kids bothered to even attempt some outdoor time before or after school – or during lunch either. We still have a couple of weeks to go on the current round of study modules in most of our classes before we'll have a break for Valentine's Day week, so other than a test and a quiz; there wasn't anything newsworthy to write about from our classes today.

There's more action on the gossip network – both around the school and the town. At school, and for our class; that started with the post-party recaps from Friday night. Valentine's Day is getting more attention too; and a couple of couple-related stories involved both of those top topics. I'm sure that bumpy teen relationships are common in big city schools, but then months-long dating would be considered long-term in those schools too while that isn't the case here. Dating a different guy every week at our school would mean a girl would be out of dating options in about three months – and only if that included dating the boyfriends of other girls.

I guess that's really good in some ways; but it also sometimes keeps couples together long after they've figured out that they're not really compatible as a couple. It can also make for long, drawn-out break-ups. For the two couples I'm referring to here, that means that Lisa's party wasn't much fun for them; and Valentine's Day could be make-or-break time for either pair – though it doesn't sound as though that will happen between now and then. There are other teen romance stories going on around school in other grades, including potential break-ups and brand-new romances; but none of that happens much by Grade Twelve – the seniors are either paired up for years by then; or haven't found a match here at home and are single when they head off to college.

Except for any guys involved in the current romantic turmoil, none of the other guys are interested at all in Valentine's Day or any of the favorite girl chat topics; but they were talking football a lot now that we're less than a week away from the Super Bowl. The game itself is only part of the most important aspects of the day, and for some of the guys; whether they were going to the 'best' parties was socially a very big deal – with the one at the Landry's house being the coolest party to get an invite for. I guess that was a big deal for a few of the girls too, so Jenny's happy that she's on the list along with Garth, the other guys on the football team, and most of the cheerleaders; but I'm glad that Michael and I will be helping his Dad out at the Inn instead – though I'm sure we could have gone to the other party with Tim and Rowen instead. They're going to make an appearance there; but spend most of the day at the Inn with us – at least when we're not helping out in the kitchen.

I heard more about the Super Bowl party and dinner at the Inn tonight while at Michael's house for dinner and the evening; but I'll save the details for that until my journal update on Sunday night. Since I've covered the only interesting parts of the school day already, and there isn't really anything newsworthy to report from our after-school studying at my house; I'll just skip that and continue with the news and action from my time with Michael and his family.

Rebecca is happier lately thanks to some extra best friend time with Jenny. That's meant fending off some matchmaking suggestions; mostly because she now knows from experience that Jenny's taste in boys isn't at all like her own. Since I've been known to take an active role in matchmaking, I can't say anything about Jenny's attempts at that; other than that she really shouldn't use her personal preferences as a filter for Rebecca. My thoughts on that are also colored by what Ethan, Ehlana, and I know about the probability of certain future events that might involve Rebecca in a big way, but even without having that insight; I know that Rebecca and Jenny will never have the same taste in boys.

While Rebecca and I had a chance for a little girl talk by ourselves, the main dinner conversation topics were Miranda's upcoming girls' weekend trip and Jacob's plans for the weekend while she's away. Those plans include having Michael and Rebecca put in some extra time at the Inn; but I'm sure he was only joking about the all-night parties after work on Friday and Saturday. There were also jokes about taking Miranda shopping tomorrow so he could help her pick out some clothes for the trip – like one of those old-fashioned, neck-to-knee swimsuits; but the girls at the table managed to convince him that he wouldn't find anything like that at the mall anyway.

He's really just wishing he could be there to watch his wife if the girls get to have any swimsuit time this weekend, since he certainly doesn't have to worry about any Hollywood hunks sweeping Miranda off her feet when she has him waiting for her back at home.

Michael's fairly progressive for a teen guy, but even he didn't really want to hear about his mother's hotness factor; whether she should take skimpy bikinis along; or anything else about what happens when a group of mothers go away for a girls' weekend away. Since Rebecca and I may want to go on a few of those weekends with our friends when we get older; we were fine with finding out about some of the details – though I'd heard about most of them from Mom and Aunt Leanne already. I suggest trying that out soon, but I suppose we'll at least need to wait until one of us can drive before doing that. A girls' night campout in the back yard wouldn't count; and I don't plan on biking to Crystal Springs and back – even if I could get a group of girls willing to give that a try just for the chance to do a sleepover at a hotel and maybe catch some spa action, fine dining, and a movie.

It's probably getting boring to hear about the great food we get to have every week for our meals at Michael's house, but I never get tired of the culinary experiments; and the dinner tonight was fantastic! Michael, Rebecca, and I took care of the clean-up, and then Michael and I went up to his room for my guitar lesson and a music practice – including getting ready for music class; band; and our Valentine's Day duet. We had just a bit of play time while we were alone, but then I had a visit with Rebecca in her room before we both met up with Michael, Miranda, and Jacob for our usual end-of-night chat before I headed home for the night.

I was back in time to help Mom with getting Ethan and Ehlana bathed and ready for bed; we did the bedtime story and snack with Dad in the office; and then it was time to get going on the rest of my school night studies.

My Magi lesson with Mom was first; and after spending an hour or so working on advanced manipulation of the elements before it was time for me to come up to my room and get started on my bedtime studies and computing. That all went really well tonight, but the late start to that is why I'm just getting to this at two-thirty. Now that I'm getting through the basics of the current group of languages, those studies are getting more interesting, but the archive assignment Mom gave me tonight was a snooze-fest. I guess that's about it for tonight, since there wasn't any news to write about from my email tonight; so I'm ready to tuck my computer into its bag for the night and crash for a few hours. I have lots of work that I want to get done this week, but I'm also going to need to think about some extra sleep too in case I end up spending time this weekend helping out with Zack or Leah while their Moms are away with mine.

There might even be a chance for some alone time with Michael tomorrow night, and I don't want to be falling asleep if we do get a chance to do that; so, until next time...

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

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

It's been another really long day, so I'll keep this short.

The highlights from today included music class and band practice; where Valentine's Day themed music ruled; and that's especially fun when you sit next to your boyfriend while practicing those songs. Our study session at the computer store after school was short and entertaining; and then Michael came home with me for dinner and an evening of Magi lessons; music; and just a little bit of play time in the lounge after Ethan and Ehlana went to bed.

That's why it's closing in on three o'clock now as I write this. He went home shortly before eleven; but then I had a chat with Mom and Dad in the office until nearly midnight when we all headed up to bed – and I got started on my bedtime computing and studies. There isn't anything new to report from the studies or the family business work I took care of tonight, and I really am just ready to crash for a few hours; so...

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

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

The talk around Witch Falls, and particularly in our Grade Eight class because of our focus on government this year, was often about the highlights from the President's State of the Union address last night. I didn't mention it in my update last night, though I did listen to it while doing my archive studies; but that was mostly because I have a fairly jaded view of politicians in general – and I've mentioned before that governments mostly just get in the way of our family business work.

Expressing those views; or my analysis of the speech last night in class wasn't exactly an option; though Uncle Nick – Mr. Ayres – is well-aware of them. He did allow a more open discussion than probably happens in many classrooms around the country; but our 'debate' over the issues wasn't exactly in-depth, and didn't really get into the real problems facing our government and country. Part of the reason for that is the changing breadth of our lessons when it comes to politics.

For instance, I'll guess that in the not-so-distant past, the role of media wasn't even discussed in the classroom as part of the political equation during events like this. Media bias and spin is now a really big deal, and whether you agree or not with the results; there isn't much doubt that media deeply influences what a large percentage of the population believes to be true – whether they're right or not.

I won't go into every detail of the speech or our discussions about it in class, but there are a couple of things that will affect our family business that I do want to mention.

First up would be the increase in minimum wage. There is the usual media spin going on at both ends of the issue today, but I'll stick to the practical, business effects. A forty percent increase in labor costs for jobs where that's applicable does have an impact on businesses. That added expense will either be passed on in higher prices; productivity will need to improve to warrant the added cost; or alternatives will become more cost-effective – like robotics or business relocation to less-expensive countries.

While the President's planned executive order will only impact government contractors at first, he'll likely get congress to go along with the new minimum despite the fact that it's a net-negative to the country and won't really help current minimum wage earners. The government contractors will love this because I'm sure many of them – as we are for the few family business companies that do government contracts – make their profit on a cost-plus percentage mark-up basis; so they get free money out of the deal with no added work or effort. That may not be the case for their employees. Higher wages mean more taxes; could mean less supplemental government benefits; and there will almost certainly be increased prices – particularly for products that rely heavily on a minimum wage workforce.

Note that the President mentioned that the increase was needed because the current minimum wage is worth twenty percent less than when it was enacted. The problem has never been what the minimum wage is – it's how much those dollars can buy. The only thing this wage increase will accomplish is to add more to the government debt, since that forty percent will need to be paid for somehow; and shift spending from one place to another. People always seem to forget that money that is spent on wages isn't spent somewhere else.

I don't want to make too big a deal of this, since the impact on our family business is actually fairly minor; but it will have an effect; and we may decide to change some things. That certainly isn't strictly business for us; but we do still need to choose where we can help people the most; and our vision for that is global. Here at home, particularly with the store owners, it will be very important if congress does implement the President's proposal as a federal mandate, and though none of the employees working directly or indirectly for the family business will be affected; I'm sure that Mom will take a look at how we can help with the impact the change will have on smaller businesses in town.

Moving along, next up is the announced 'MyRA' retirement savings plan. To be blunt, this is nothing more than a money-grab plan by the government to get more dollars flowing into government bonds. Here's a novel concept – the government should try running a balanced budget – that way they wouldn't need to sell bonds to fund their debts to pay for things like minimum wage hikes and Obamacare. The entire notion is even funnier when you consider that Washington has been doing everything possible to discourage savings for the past fifteen or twenty years and encourage consumption and debt accumulation.

Will people plow money into the new program? Possibly. Will they regret that decision in twenty or thirty years? Probably. I don't mean to offend the President or Congress, but it doesn't take a twelve-year old Magi Master to figure out that financial security provided by the government only lasts as long as the governed who pay for it continue to consent to do so; and nobody – at least ethically – gets rich through these types of government savings programs. Let's not even discuss the idiocy of putting all of your eggs in one basket; which is essentially what counting on social security, Medicare, and a government savings bonds retirement fund would be. I'm certainly glad that we have other options for most of our companies and employees in this country – and many others as well.

The bottom line for pretty much the entire State of the Union speech boils down to 'we know what's best for you; so let us take care of you'. Feel free to decide whether that's true for you or not; but I can assure you that it isn't for me; and my work would be much easier without all of the 'help' I've personally experienced with the government.

That's enough of a rant for one night, so let's do the quick daily report; and then I'll be ready for some quality down time.

We had a standard morning routine; school was fun but uneventful; we studied after school at Tim's house; and then I worked on my part-time job from the time I got home until nearly eight o'clock with just a short break for a soup and sandwiches dinner. Mom did my Magi lesson before we put Ethan and Ehlana to bed; and then I came straight up to my room to do the usual studying and work. That's why I'll be sleeping before midnight while still getting all of my planned work finished. Some Michael and me time might have been nice, but I do like the getting to sleep before two or three in the morning; so we'll survive the occasional evening when we don't see each other.

I definitely don't want to be dreaming about politics when I do get to sleep; so let's end this with those thoughts about Michael front and center in my mind.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Thursday, January 30, 2014

The happiest girls in town tonight are Hannah Draper and Stacey Burroughs – after they found out that their favorite boys were sending them along on the girls' weekend away with Mom, Aunt Leanne, and the other women. I'll guess that there will be more buzz around town this weekend about our new Pastor's wife going on 'that' kind of trip, but I think that Aunt Grace's suggestion to set that up for her new friend was great; and they're going to have an awesome mini-vacation.

My day wasn't that exciting by comparison, but I did have fun; and am going to be sleeping before midnight again – though this time I needed to cheat with a little Magi-powered time phasing to make that happen.

Football fever is taking over at school now; though this last round should be over by next Monday or Tuesday once the boys are finished with their post-mortem on the Super Bowl – and the girls are in full Valentine's Day mode for the first two weeks of February. I'm wishing that we'll be done with football until July or August, but Tim probably won't let that happen for Rowen and me. He'd be right up there with Michael, Rowen, and me if he paid as much attention to his school work as he does for all things football. He's already following the off-season news; and has the added bonus of Kyle's preparations to play college ball for Lee's alma mater. Nobody in town has any doubt that he'll get a scholarship and make that team as a freshman; but Tim's mostly interested in everything Kyle's doing to get ready for that – hoping it'll help him to make our school team next season.

While I'm on that subject, I'll mention that Michael is countering that here and there where he can. It's one thing to want to play football, but something else to want to be like Kyle when Tim, like his father, won't ever be as big as his uncle or cousin. Michael's influence is keeping Tim from attempting to follow Kyle's training diet; and they're not weight training with the goal of bench-pressing farm equipment. That seems to require regular reminders, because Tim is very competitive; and he apparently doesn't like watching the bigger guys working with much heavier weights than he or Michael can handle.

Don't bother to apply logic to that – he's thirteen, a guy, and the facts don't matter to him.

There isn't much to write about from school today. Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I went outside for a while at lunch, and though it didn't feel like the end of January kind of winter day; we got some rain this afternoon and it's much colder again tonight. Our study time at the Inn was good; playing with Michael and Rebecca in the kitchen was fun; and game night was a blast. Michael and I didn't get to end our day with much of a goodnight kiss, but that was only one little disappointment in an otherwise really good day; and we only missed out on that because Mom needed to get home right after the games so she could finish getting ready for her trip.

That's why I did most of the bedtime routine with Ethan and Ehlana after we all got home and Dad did his homework in the office while Mom finished packing. Mom still multi-tasked and did my Magi lesson too, but then I came up to my room when she was ready to have some goodbye alone time with Dad before getting some sleep. There's still working on that, but as always; feel free to use your imagination on that while I move along and wrap this up. As I mentioned, the only way to get all of my work done without staying up way too late tonight was to use a little time-phasing; so I made an exception and did that. While I really don't want to get into the habit of using time-phases just so I can get more sleep; the practice tonight was good for me.

I don't have any news to report from my studies or computer checks, and we need to be up very early to see Mom off to the airport; so that's it for now, and I'm off to get some quality unconscious time.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Friday, January 31, 2014

I wouldn't say that I'm completely used to being apart from Mom yet, and I still kept a close eye on our connection while she was travelling today; but it is getting easier to handle her going on trips.

The early wake-up call combined with a long day and late night has pretty much worn me out now, but Uncle Adam and Uncle Mark had a busy day at the clinic; so I'm helping out with Zack tonight while Uncle Adam is catching up on his sleep. I'll guess that he's tired out for the same reason Dad is tonight; but let's not write about why they're in that condition. While I didn't see all of the men who are weekend bachelors while their wives are away, Uncle Nick was a bit off of his game at school today, and Rowen's father looked both happy and tired when I stopped in there to give Patricia her birthday gift, hugs, and kisses while Mom was picking her up; so I don't think a survey will be required to determine that all of the couples involved in this weekend adventure apart were not just sleeping when they went to bed last night.

Maybe I should check back on that again – in about nine months! ;^)

Or not.

Happy Birthday, Patricia!

While I didn't get to say goodbye to all of the women this morning, I did bundle up and go with Mom so that I could do the birthday thing with Rowen's mother and say goodbye to Aunt Leanne and Miranda. I brought Michael home with me after Mom's stop at his house on her way through to pick up her last two passengers; and the early start for our Tai Chi gave us enough time for Michael to stay and have breakfast with us before going home to get ready for school and his weight training session with Tim and the other guys.

I also had extra time to help Dad with Ethan and Ehlana; so they were ready to go to KidZone before I met up with Rowen and we headed to school. Football, parties, and weekend shopping plans for quite a few of the girls were pretty much the only chat topics at school today; and quite a few of the teachers just went with the flow and incorporated sports into their lessons – whether that was in one of the core subjects; or games of 'arena' football in the gym.

With his mother away for the weekend, Michael's usual Friday night off was voluntarily cancelled so that he could help out at the Inn; though he came with me to KidZone first and helped with getting Ethan, Ehlana, and their gear back to our house first. He stayed for our after-school and daycare snack; and then headed for the Inn while I took care of the twins and started working on dinner for five – or six if you include Zack. He spent most of the day with his great-grandparents and Carrington grandparents; and Uncle Adam picked him up after work on his way to our house.

Uncle Mark, Uncle Nick, and Leah had invitations to dinner tonight too; but they already had other plans by the time Dad made the offer; though most of the temporarily single guys do have plans to go out to the pub tomorrow night for a while. Since Uncle Adam was already worn out by the time he and Zack got to our house; I'm sure that he was glad to have a quiet dinner and evening – and the meal already cooked and on the table.

I'm not ever going to be in any danger of being promoted to head chef at the Inn; but I can shake and bake chicken; throw some veggie sides together; and warm up a fresh, Olde Bakery pie. Dad helped out with the tail end of the work after he got home; but then he was running a bit behind too because he and Claire had some month-end rentals and a house closing that kept them busy all afternoon.

The good news with that blast of work for me was that I wasn't on the clean-up crew. That would have been really great, except it ended up being tougher taking care of Zack – and definitely dirtier and smellier!

Since Ehlana and I were out-numbered tonight, the guys picked the movie; though we didn't mind watching Planes and cuddling with four of our favorite boys. Michael came over in time to catch the post-movie snack and bedtime story; and then he went with me when I was ready to go home with Uncle Adam and Zack. While it wasn't all that late yet, Uncle Adam was okay with leaving Michael and I to take care of Zack; and we did that in the living room until Michael decided to head home at eleven-thirty.

That didn't exactly allow for anything more than some quality cuddling and the occasional kiss while we had Zack with us; but it was still nice to have the almost-alone time together. Michael's need to head home was coincidentally timed perfectly with Zack's need for a diaper change and feeding; so our goodbye hug and kisses were short; accompanied by Zack's fussing and a fragrance that wasn't at all romantic.

The diaper change wasn't fun, but I really have enjoyed getting to spend the bonus time with my little cousin; and we've had fun tonight – especially when he's wanted to cuddle and chat telepathically with me in between his naps. I've done some extra work and studying on my computer during those naps, but plan on going to sleep too once I've dealt with the last feeding he'll need before morning. His timing is off a bit tonight; but that'll just mean Uncle Adam won't need to get up at five-thirty or six to give him his next bottle.

I don't really have anything else for tonight, so I'll wrap this up and do a little random surfing while waiting for Zack to let me know he's ready for that feeding – and yet one more diaper change. Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll save the next dirty diaper for sometime in the morning!

Then again, he's developing quite the little sense of humor; so I wouldn't count out the possibility that he's doing that on purpose just because he finds my reaction entertaining. I know, he's just a baby, but as I've mentioned before; Zack's well-ahead of the curve on the development chart, so my suggestion is actually quite possible.

That's a weird note to end a journal entry on, but that's life sometimes too, so...

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

February 2014

Saturday, February 1, 2014

There was fresh snow on the ground this morning; so my revised Saturday morning routine included some shoveling to go along with helping Uncle Adam with Zack and having breakfast for two once my cousin was fed and reasonably content. We skipped Tai Chi, and I didn't get to see Michael this morning; but those were the only downs to an otherwise pretty good start to the day.

Before I get into the rest of the local report, I should mention that Grandma and Grandpa have moved on from India to Pakistan; and are taking the weekend off for some sightseeing – and to celebrate Grandma's birthday tomorrow. They'll only be in Pakistan for a bit less than two weeks; and then they'll move on to Italy in time for a little Valentine's Day weekend holiday.

While sightseeing in Pakistan – or a girls' weekend away in California – is more fun than anything going on around here; we've managed to get our work done and enjoy some play time today too. Most of the work happened this morning and afternoon; though Rowen and I were technically working tonight too while Dad was out with the other guys and we were babysitting at my house.

The snow shoveling only took a while because we had two driveways to do; and one or more of us were watching Zack, Ethan, and Ehlana while the outdoor work was going on. Since Uncle Adam also cooked breakfast, I shoveled his driveway; and then did part of ours before he and Dad sent me inside to watch the kids while they finished up. It was housework time after that; and it took until lunchtime to get everything except the laundry finished. Dad just had his kids around for lunch, and we went with soup and sandwiches to keep the work and mess to a minimum. I took Ethan and Ehlana outside for a bit of snow fun after that; and had Rowen and Tim join us for the last fifteen minutes or so until Michael joined us when he was set free from the Inn for his afternoon break.

We had a study afternoon today because we didn't get our homework done last night; and didn't want to be doing it tomorrow while the Super Bowl and parties are going on. Ethan and Ehlana needed us to do a hot chocolate and snacks break with them first, and then we headed up to the lounge and got to work. While using a little Magi power to get the homework out of the way would've been nice, that wasn't an option; so we ended up spending almost all of Michael's break on our computers. Tim headed out when Michael needed to get back to the Inn, but Rowen stayed so that she could help me to get some things set up for dinner and our evening babysitting duties.

Dad and his friends weren't going out until after dinner, but we had most of the kids we were babysitting tonight – and their fathers – to feed. While their younger siblings were getting grandparent babysitting services tonight; Naomi and Aiden were with us for sleepovers, and brought their Dads along to have dinner with us. Aiden was dropped off; and his father came over after closing the bakery; getting here about the same time that Rowen's father did. Patrick was already with us by then; and had come over with Scott, Lindsay, and their father. I don't see Abby's husband around town all that often other than at church; so I was glad that Dad invited him to join us tonight.

That was everyone we had here for dinner; though most of the other 'weekend bachelors' were invited to join us. Uncle Adam and Uncle Nick were having dinner with their grandparent-babysitters; Uncle Mark was with Uncle Adam; Jacob was working at the Inn; and Pastor John unsurprisingly had plans for tonight that didn't include going to the pub with the other husbands while their wives are away. Since the girls were outnumbered at our house, we went with finger foods for dinner; including chicken wings or strips, potato skins, and onion rings. There were a few snack and salad sides too; but most of the younger guys avoided the salads unless ordered otherwise by their fathers.

While Rowen and I did a lot of the cooking, we didn't have to do any of the clean-up because we were put in charge of the kids and took them up to the lounge while the men in the house took care of the post-meal work. Jessica and Sophia Bassett were dropped off shortly after we'd finished eating; and were the last kids in the group we had at our house for the evening while the guys were out. Our fathers had time to spare before they were supposed to meet up with the other guys at the pub, so they made sure that we had everything under control and even played a couple of video games before heading for Sheldon's at about eight o'clock. Tim and Michael joined us shortly before they left, but Dad wasn't waiting for them to get here before leaving – there just isn't much going on at the pub before eight o'clock.

The next five hours or so were pretty much just a blur of kid-rated play time and fun mixed in with bursts of work and zero teen couple alone time. Rowen and I took care of all of the girls and the younger kids while Michael and Tim kept Patrick and Scott entertained with a video game mini-marathon. Keeping up with our group wasn't always easy for Rowen and me because they often wanted to do different things. Jessica and Lindsay plunked away at my keyboard and loaner guitar or tried to play my saxophone for quite a while, and then watched a movie on my computer while sitting in the window alcove in my bedroom. The younger kids played games on the floor; had a lengthy round of hide-and-seek; bounced on my bed like it was a trampoline; and generally managed to run their babysitters ragged trying to keep up with them.

It was heading toward eleven o'clock by the time that we managed to get the twins and their friends into bed for the night, and even then there was some iPad action going on after they were tucked in for the night. Once the five younger kids were in bed, we still had another hour or so to go before Dad got home, and though Patrick and Scott weren't all that thrilled to have four girls invade their gaming space; Rowen, Jessica, Lindsay, and I moved into the lounge; watched videos on my computer; and spent that time chatting while the guys continued their gaming. That was mostly because Rowen and I were also able to cuddle with our boyfriends at the ends of the sectional sofa while Jessica and Lindsay took the middle; but it was more fun for all of us. Patrick and Scott would never admit that, and Jessica and Lindsay were often annoyed by the two boys; but even Rowen and Lindsay have to admit that their brothers have come a long way recently, and are way more entertaining now that they've managed to find some limits on their pranks, jokes, and teasing.

If you expected that my Dad and the other guys would take advantage of the wife-free night and party until dawn; you're obviously reading this far enough in the future to never have met him. It's Saturday night, we have church in the morning; and will be getting five two and three-year old kids ready for church in the morning. He was home by shortly after twelve; and had all of the fathers who were picking up kids with him – including Jacob; who was acting as their designated driver tonight. Rowen and I were busy for a while then because Jacob took the Faulkner clan plus Jessica home; Owen collected Patrick and headed to their house with plans for some father-son gaming or movies before bedtime; and Tim needed to head home while Michael, Rowen, and I took care of the lounge and kitchen clean-up.

Jacob and Michael are on their own tonight too because Rebecca's doing a sleepover with Jenny, so Jacob came back again and we ended up doing a bedtime snack and drinks together along with an evening recap before they headed home and Dad, Rowen, and I headed up to bed. I really would have liked some Michael and me alone time tonight too, but since it was after one by then; that wasn't going to happen. I wonder if anyone would miss us if we snuck up to one of the rooms at the Inn during the Super Bowl festivities tomorrow?

That's at least something to have some happy dreams about tonight, and Rowen and I are both getting tired after winding down with some girl chat time for almost an hour now; so I guess that's it for tonight. Whether Michael and I get some alone time or not tomorrow, we are in for a long, busy day that's going to start really early; so we really need to get what sleep we can now. Until next time...

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

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

I wish we could celebrate it with you, but it sounds as though Grandpa has made sure you've had a happy day while doing some sightseeing in Pakistan.

Grandma's birthday wasn't the big story today, obviously; but her special day is more important to me than the results of the Super Bowl – or anything else that happened today.

We got to have a little chat with Grandma and Grandpa before breakfast, but that didn't last long, and Dad, Rowen, and I needed to keep moving while having that too-short phone call while we cooked and kept up with Ethan, Ehlana, and their friends. Getting everyone fed and ready for church was fun and crazy; and we somehow managed to be ready to go by the time that Naomi and Aiden were picked up and Rowen and I walked Sophia to her house before catching a ride with Dad and the twins.

I know there were only ten women on the weekend getaway trip, but since so many of them were my family or closest friends; it seemed very quiet by comparison at church – at least while we were in the sanctuary. Sunday school was fairly normal; though being in between major holidays means it's quieter in our classes too as we focus more on lessons. I don't think that having his wife away for the weekend impacted Pastor John's plans for the service today, but he did set his congregation free after only an hour and ten minutes today. Mom and Aunt Leanne may hear about it this week, but some of the guys were only half-joking about how quickly they were on our way home after church without all of the girl chat today.

That's something I didn't hear about until later at the Inn because I went there right after church with Michael; and spent the rest of the day there until after the Super Bowl ended.

Before I get to the details of that, let's get the football action and news out of the way. It wasn't much of a game unless you're a Seahawks fan, and in case the forty-three to eight score isn't enough of a hint; it really was that lop-sided. More than half of the people at the Inn pretty much just stopped watching the game by shortly into the third quarter, and even when it didn't yet look like a blowout yet; the Broncos never really seemed to be in any danger of getting their act together. That left quite a few people feeling disappointed, but since I really can't get all that motivated or excited about pro sports in general; I'm mostly just relieved that the season is over.

Our work and play time at the Inn was way more interesting and fun; though it also wasn't quite the same without Miranda there. The lunch rush was as packed as always, but we had the added job today of getting the dining room set up for the Super Bowl buffet and party once we'd finished feeding about two hundred and fifty people. While Michael continued to help out with the clean-up in the kitchen; Rebecca and I were part of the dining room crew for that extra work. We had the pre-game show on the televisions by the time it started and our first guests began arriving – including Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana. The rest of the guys and kids in my family and most of our friends were at the Inn by four; though Rowen and Tim were at his Uncle and Aunt's house until just before dinnertime.

Michael, Rebecca, and I were set free to have dinner with everyone once the foods for the 'special' buffet went out; and we ended up at a table with Rowen, Tim, and the three Norton kids. The boys talked football pretty much the entire time, which wasn't a surprise; but one tidbit of news was interesting – Lucas had a fairly lengthy discussion with Michael and Tim about trying out for the school football team next season. Tim invited him to join the weight training group in the mornings; though I'm not sure whether that'll work for Lucas when he also has farm chores every morning too – like most farm teens do.

I wasn't the only person at the table who didn't know that Lucas was interested in playing football, though his sister and brother weren't; and that probably had more to do with how quiet he usually is – at least compared to a lot of the other guys in high school. If he looked more like his father, he'd have likely been recruited to play, but then he's still one of the smallest guys in Grade Nine even though he is catching up fast this year. I really like Lucas, so if that's what he wants to do; I hope that works out for him; and working on that with Michael and Tim will likely help all three of them.

So much for keeping the football news to a minimum – let's move along.

We had fun at dinner; and Rebecca, Rowen, Emma, and I managed to keep ourselves entertained even with all of the sport chat with the guys. Some of us still had work to do after that, though, so Michael, Rebecca, and I were back in the kitchen and helping with the post-dinner clean-up for about an hour and a half before being set free again to rejoin the party. Michael and I spent as much time with Ethan, Ehlana, their friends, and our collective fathers as we did with our own friends after that; and played games more than we watched the game on the big screens. Michael and Tim got into some video game football action too, and since there weren't that many of their own friends at the Inn; Rebecca and Lucas spent a lot of their time together – and with Tim and Rowen.

When the game mercifully – for the Broncos and their fans – ended, there was a collective clean-up effort that included most of the guests; and then I went straight home with Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana. I took care of bath time for the twins while Dad went to work in the office. With Mom still in transit home, I didn't have my usual Sunday night Magi lesson, but it was still late by the time I came up to my room and hopped into my Jacuzzi to have a soak while starting on my studies, work, and nightly computing.

I'm still awake now because I wanted to stay up and wait for Mom to get home anyway; so I've gotten a lot of work done tonight. None of that is particularly newsworthy; but I'm due for a college teen update.

Super Bowl parties were big on all campuses today, and all of my favorite college couples attended one or more party. I'm sure that my email were age-appropriate, but it's easy enough to read between the lines and know that all of those parties were wilder than anything going on here in Witch Falls – even at Sheldon's Pub. Getting together today was toughest for Jake and Stephanie, and they're really finding it tough to be apart so much of the time right now – even though they're not living that far away from each other on their respective campuses. The good news for them in the near future is that they'll be spending Valentine's Day weekend together; and will have their Spring Break week together too in March – though I'm sure they'll just hang out in a library somewhere and study day and night. ;^)

I guess that's it for today. Mom will be home soon, so I'm going downstairs to get a snack together for her – and probably for Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana; since they'll likely all wake up once she's here. I'm going to skip the look at the week ahead tonight, since the only thing on the board is my birthday on Saturday; and I have no idea what's going on for that this year. It'll be another first with Michael, though, so whatever we do; I'm sure it'll be a best birthday ever so far!

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Monday, February 3, 2014

Mom, my aunts, and their friends had a great weekend; and Rowen and I are definitely going to need to do things like that when we grow up!

A Spa visit; some exclusive shopping; amazing meals; and some beach and pool time were some of the highlights but for major details you might want to mosey on over to Aunt Leanne's journal since her version is probably most graphic and interesting – if you're not a kid. I'm sure that it was very flattering to get hit on several times in the land of beautiful people, and the husbands involved are secure enough to handle that news; but I have no intention of spending any time thinking or writing about the hotness factor for my Mom, Aunts, or the other women on the trip.

Most of the weekend stories I've heard so far came from Mom and Miranda because Michael and I got to have both of our families together for dinner at his house – mostly so that both of our Moms could have that time with us tonight. I'll get to that in a minute; but let's back up to the early-morning homecoming and go from there.

Mom got home shortly after three, and while Ethan and Ehlana gave Dad a wake-up call; they'd come to life as soon as she'd gotten close to town. She was exhausted by then, but we still had a little snack and drinks break and a micro-update before going up – or back – to bed for the nap time that was all we had left before we needed to be up and getting ready for another work and school day. I'm sure that nine out of the ten women who were on that trip were tired out this morning, but Mom was the exception after I helped her out with a little Magi-powered pep hug. Yes, she could have self-healed; but it was more fun my way!

Morning Tai Chi and breakfast were more fun too; and we traded more weekend stories with Mom whenever we weren't running around and taking turns getting ready for the day. That didn't keep me from being ready to go early; and I even managed to meet up with Rowen and her house before we headed to school. Patricia was definitely still tired out from the long play and travel day; but Owen's solution for that had just been to send her back to bed so she could sleep until noon while he worked the store on his own.

The Super Bowl post-mortem was the hot topic with the guys today, but the girls were in full Valentine mode now that the big day is a week from Friday. I'll skip everything football-related from today – except to mention that Michael, Tim, and the other guys had Lucas join their morning weight training group today. He's arranged for a ride in the mornings, and from what Michael and Tim told Rowen and me; the extra time he needs to do that is coming from a combination of getting up early and the time he won't be spending on the bus each morning. I'd comment on that, but since his work ethic really just resembles Michael and me; let's not analyze that too closely.

This is going to be my first Valentine's Day with a boyfriend, so I don't want to write anything that I may regret or change my mind about in a couple of weeks; but even in our little school things get a bit nutty and occasionally way too serious. Sure, there's tween and teen drama year-round; but it seems to go into hyper-drive in February. I wonder if it would be as weird if Valentine's Day was in the summer. Maybe I'll ask some of my southern hemisphere chat buddies about that; since it is summertime there. I don't ever want to be away from home at Christmastime, but Valentine's Day in the tropics some day would be fun. I'll talk to Michael about that sometime in the future – when we wouldn't need chaperones to do something like that. ;^)

That went off-track a bit, so let's get back to the recap. While the girls and guys were often off on separate lines of thought and talk; the Valentine's Day theme began creeping into the lesson plans now. That's a bigger deal for the younger grades, but even math and science is a little more fun when the assignments have contemporary and seasonal associations. While I guess that none of that news from school is exactly earth-shaking; we did have a pretty good day.

Michael, Tim, and Rowen came home with me for our study session, and after having our snack break with Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana; we were left on our own to get our homework done while Mom took the twins along and went over to Michael's house to mostly visit with Miranda while Jacob worked on making dinner for everyone. The highlight of that little blast of fun was when Michael and I had a bit of alone time between when Tim and Rowen left and when we moved on to his house, but don't think we got away with anything because Mom does have the link with me; and Miranda only needed to look at us to know that we weren't getting there so close to dinnertime because we'd been putting in extra study time.

Dad had gotten there first after work, so Miranda only had time to tease Michael and me for a few minutes before we sat down to eat and spent nearly an hour mostly talking about the California trip. I haven't mentioned Barb and Corey yet; so let's go there next.

Corey only spent a little time with all of the women while they were there; and only when they stopped in to collect Barb each morning – and check out their home. It sounds like they're pretty much living their dream now; and their home is very nice. Barb is really doing great with her job there; and has already been promoted twice since they moved there. Some name-dropping that wasn't really very impressive to Mom, Miranda, or most of the other women suggested that Barb and Corey are starting to move in some fairly elite circles; and they obviously love all of that too. I'm certainly not bragging or anything, but you can't help but be at least a little amused with all of that when Barb and Corey don't even know that the richest person they know is my Mom – not the movers and shakers of Los Angeles or California. Then again, Mom and I don't even think about money as having anything to do with why we're rich – we get all of that from our new family and friends.

We had that and then some tonight while spending the evening with Michael and his family. The weekend story time and food was great, but I'm mostly thinking about how things continue to change with our families since Michael and I started dating. Dad has been Uncle Cameron to Michael and Rebecca for as long as they can remember, though Jake probably does; since he was older by the time Dad got home from college and his big law firm work. That didn't change after marrying Mom, and Rebecca and Stephanie in particular have called her Aunt Julie as often as not – though that's changed to first names for Mom and Dad the closer Jake and Stephanie get to Violet.

Mom's friendship, and then her working relationship, with Miranda was a natural fit with Dad's friendship with Jacob and Miranda; but it is different now too – as is my friendship with Rebecca. I guess the simplest way to describe that is to say that we're becoming one family – very much the same way that the Proctor and Johnson clans have become very close since Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne got married. I'm sure that most non-Magi would find that ridiculous when talking about something like that happening because of a pair of thirteen-year olds dating; but even Jacob and Rebecca seem to know that Michael and I have something really special even without any Magi power to help them come to that conclusion.

That developing family relationship probably isn't obvious to everyone in town; though feel free to correct me on that whenever you read this in my future if I'm wrong. The only reason for that, though, is our collective busy lives and work – we just don't get that many opportunities to do things with all of us together. While having more time for evenings like we had tonight would be nice, the quantity of time doesn't change what's happening; and I really love being part of an ever-expanding family. The Magi Council probably likes seeing that happen too as Mom and I really dig our roots deeper into Witch Falls.

Moving along, our entertainment tonight also included my guitar lesson after we'd finished dinner and the clean-up; but Dad and Jacob joined in for that and we had a bit of a jam session and sing-along in the living room. While the television was on, we didn't really watch anything after that; and just enjoyed some quiet chat time until Dad needed to get home and started on his homework for the night.

We all went home then, and I didn't get to share a particularly exciting goodbye with Michael; but we did get that alone time here earlier so I'm not complaining. While Dad worked, Mom and I did the bedtime routine with the twins; had my Magi lesson after they were tucked in; and then I came up to my room to get started on my studies and work after that. Since I was already ahead of schedule this week thanks to the extra work last night, it was easy to keep ahead now; which is why I put a one-thirty time limit on my studies tonight so I can be sleeping before two o'clock.

I managed to actually come close to hitting that, with just a slight over-run while finishing up a little family business report instead of leaving the last hundred pages or so un-read. The lack of sleep is going to catch up to me eventually, and I definitely don't want to be too tired for the weekend birthday action – whatever that's going to be; but I don't plan on cutting back until Wednesday night – and maybe not even then if I can do another all-work evening and an early bedtime then. We'll see how it goes, but for now; I'm ready to crash for a few hours, so...

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

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

There was some good-natured grumbling around school today; but nobody at school was really disappointed that the buses were canceled but the school was open for all town kids and any farm kids who could get rides into town and home again. Snow had barely begun to fall before school started this morning, but came down fairly heavily for the rest of the morning; which is why the decision was made not to run the bus routes today and risk having a problem getting kids home again.

With maybe a bit more than half the students at school, most teachers took it easy on us for both the lessons and homework; and we spent as much time working on projects as we did on anything else. The biggest impact that the snow had on our day was the cancellation of band practice and the after-school shoveling that kept Michael and I doing our own thing while Rowen and Tim worked at their houses, shop, and store.

After being set free from school, Michael and I shoveled the driveways, sidewalks, and porches at both of our houses before having hot chocolate and munchies break before dinner. Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and Zack were with us tonight, and Aunt Leanne and Zack had come over while we'd been at Michael's house; so we didn't need to help out with making dinner – or the clean-up after because we were back outside on snow duty.

I loved getting to spend that time with my aunt, uncle, and cousin; and hearing more travel stories from Aunt Leanne's perspective; but that break seemed too short before we were all on the run again. The shoveling is definitely a chore by this point in winter; though Michael and I still had fun together too with a bit of snow play time mixed in with the work. We followed that up with a Magi lesson; music practice; and helping Mom with getting Ethan and Ehlana into bed after a bit of play time with them. Once they were tucked in for the night, Michael and I got to have a bit over a half-hour of actual alone time that we did our very best to take full advantage of – including using a little Magi power to get our bit of homework out of the way. A little dash or two of time phasing may have been involved too; but not enough that we could get too carried away with that hot little blast of fun.

I had a little chat with Mom and Dad in the office after Michael went home; Dad and I did one last, quick round of snow shoveling; and then I spent three hours on my computer getting pretty much all of the studying I have planned for this week finished so that taking it easy for the next couple of nights – at least comparatively – is an option.

With that said, I'm also exhausted from the work and fun; and I'm going to wrap this up and crash for a few hours. Until next time...

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

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

We started the day working out in the snow one more time to clear what fell overnight, but that wasn't a lot; the school was open, and buses were running.

The work pretty much continued all day as our teachers tried to cover more lessons; that left us with extra homework; and I followed all of that up with an all-evening work and study night while Michael was busy at the Inn anyway.

That has given me the chance to get to bed earlier than usual tonight, though, so I'm okay with that – and ready for the bonus down time. There really isn't anything else from today worth writing about, so I'm going to wrap this up and get started on that extended nap time.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Thursday, February 6, 2014

I fell asleep last night while working on my computer an hour or so before I would have gotten around to writing this update.

That might suggest that I have a lot to write about from a busy day, and I was on the go pretty much non-stop from Tai Chi until I crashed and passed out; but there really isn't much news - for yesterday. There's a lot more to write about today, but you'll have to flip to the next entry to 'read all about it'.

Since I'm writing both reports at the same time, though, I guess we can keep this one short so you can move on to that right away.

Yesterday was pretty much a normal school and work day. I'll take a break from the ongoing Valentine's season drama news from school, and while I had a lot of fun with Michael, Rebecca, and our families and friends at the Inn tonight between helping out in the kitchen and game night; there isn't anything particularly exciting to report from any of that either.

Maybe I should delay all of my journal reports by a day. There might be a lot less reading for you whenever you're actually doing that some day in my future. I'm not actually serious about that, since I do think that it's important for me to include those often-boring details and thoughts in my journal – especially since the most detailed books in the archives are often the ones that I find most helpful in my own studies.

Okay, let's say that's true most of the time; since you've likely read many of the same dry, voluminous studies on some uses of our Magi powers that could have just as easily been summed up in one or two sentences – like that guy who wrote fifty-nine thousand pages about how we're able to light a fire with our power.

No, really – and just on that, with nothing about any uses of that element. If you're lucky and haven't ever been given that set of books to read, save yourself some seriously boring study time; and don't. You really don't need it to understand how to make fire any more than a normal person needs a set of encyclopedias to understand how to light a match or use a lighter.

That went off on a weird tangent, but I done now and ready to move along to the more interesting news I have from today; so until I flip the digital page and start writing that report in a couple of moments...

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

Friday, February 7, 2014

This feels strange writing back-to-back reports, and it was definitely a more interesting day today; but I also need to get some sleep too because I've been advised that my birthday surprise is going to start early – like in about four hours kind of early.

Michael, Rowen, Tim, and some of our other friends had some birthday surprises for me today too; including a special lunch; some gifts; and a bit of birthday roasting here and there throughout the school day. All of that helped to keep all of us entertained; though we actually had a fairly busy class schedule too with two tests and one major project wrap-up that included the first round of oral presentations. While none of that stressed me at all, some of our classmates were having a tough day. I'd advise them to lighten up, but then it isn't as though any of those particular friends would believe me if I suggested that everything in Grade Eight is a breeze compared to presenting Masters' theses to my Mom or putting together business deals worth tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.

We skipped our after-school studying in favor of some tobogganing with the twins; and then Michael and I took Ethan and Ehlana to Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace's house for our dinner and a movie night while Rowen and Tim had other plans for tonight that included dinner with his parents and what Rowen hoped would be some alone time for them without parental supervision.

I would have liked to spend the rest of the evening with them – or alone with Michael; but spending the evening with my family was fun too, and there were yet a few more early birthday surprises from my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I got mildly roasted again during dinner and teased a bit about how this time of year could end up being one of my favorites now that I have a boyfriend with my birthday and Valentine's Day just six days apart. That probably will work out better for me than kids with Christmastime birthdays, but while I like getting gifts as much as the next girl; I'll be happy just because of the extra family and friends time I'll get to have every year.

Moving along, dinner was potluck; my impending birthday earned Michael and I get-out-of-cleanup cards; and we played with Ethan, Ehlana, Leah, and Zack between when we finished demolishing a small birthday cake and ice cream and when the movie was cued up in the living room. The movie was toddler-rated and animated; and Michael and I cuddled on the floor with Ethan and Ehlana while the parents mostly chatted quietly and only half-watched Alvin lead Theodore, Simon, and the Chipettes in and out of the usual series of messes before saving the day.

Uncle Mark, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Deborah had all been running late at the clinic, so it was nearly ten o'clock by the time the movie ended; and past ten-thirty by the time we headed for home. Mom had brought the van for that because it's a long walk around to our house when the snow makes it too inconvenient to walk through the back yards. Michael came inside with me and helped with getting Ethan and Ehlana into bed, but then he went home too because of the early start we'll be having in the morning. I'm sure he knows what's going on; but he didn't give me any more hints about it than anyone else did tonight. The few I did get were enough for me to know that we are going to be in for a really great day; so the details aren't really important – and I will know soon enough anyway.

That does remind me that I really do need to get what sleep I can, though, so let's wrap this up. Michael was on his way home by shortly before eleven-thirty; I hopped into the Jacuzzi for a soak; and ended up doing some multi-tasking work on my computer while winding down. I'm tucked into bed with Mandy now, but finished what I'd been working on while in the tub instead of leaving it until Sunday night; which is why it's closing in on one o'clock now and I should have been sleeping a while ago. The good news is that napping may be an option while we're on the road to wherever, but since I'm also ready to crash now and snooze while I can; that's all I have for tonight, and I'm out of here.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Happy 13th Birthday to me!

That was actually yesterday now as I write this; but the delay with my journal update this time is due to extreme fun and lack of opportunity to write instead of passing out in the middle of my studies and work like last time.

My family and friends started out my best birthday ever-so-far with an early-morning, eat on the fly breakfast while we ran around getting ready for the day and my birthday trip guests came over or were dropped off. Ethan and Ehlana weren't going with us, so they had me open their gift too; and then Uncle Adam took them over to Naomi's house shortly before we loaded up two minivans and headed out of town – destination: Blue Ridge Ski Center!

Mom, Dad, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Leanne were our drivers and chaperones; and they had eight teens to keep up with for the day. In addition to Michael, Rowen, and Tim; Mom and Dad had invited Sally, Joshua, Gretchen, and Elliott to come snowboarding with us. Since we had long drives both ways; we decided to do the first half of the trip to the ski center with boys and girls vehicles; so Mom and Aunt Leanne had Rowen, Sally, Gretchen, and I with them until our pit stop in Crystal Springs while Dad and Uncle Adam had the guys with them. I'll take a wild guess that our girl chat time was more fun than whatever the guys did during that part of the drive – though I'm also sure they wouldn't agree with that assessment.

While I'm thinking about it, I should mention that Uncle Nick and Aunt Deborah have Zack today, and while Ethan and Ehlana were dropped off at Naomi's; they spent the day with Aiden too and Ethan stayed overnight with Aiden while Ehlana did her sleepover with Naomi. I would have liked to spend more time with my brother and sister; but I'm sure they had more fun with their friends today than they would have with us at the ski center.

Moving along, our little travel break at about the half-way point included a second breakfast for most of the guys, a snack for the rest of us, and a fast-food fix for Aunt Leanne before we switched up the travel groups and continued on to Blue Ridge. Michael and I were paired up with Sally and Joshua; and we put a movie on to watch while also talking about everything from snowboarding and skiing to farming and sports while Dad took over driving duties and Mom got to relax for a while.

When we got to the ski center, our first stop after buying our lift tickets was the rental shop; where I found out that Mom wasn't the only adult in our group to pick skis over snowboards – and they'd all learned to ski when they were kids or teens; mostly because snowboarding was still catching on back then. Tim made some jokes about that, but compared to Grandpa Grant's 'when I was your age' stories; learning to ski instead of snowboarding isn't a big deal.

Now if Tim really wanted something to tease Dad about from childhood he should've gone with comparing Atari tennis to his new X-Box One. Then again, Grandpa Grant would be telling us that the closest thing he had as a kid to Atari tennis was an abacus – and that back in his day they actually just went outside and actually played the sports or games.

I have skied before, but that isn't part of my 'history', so only Rowen and Michael know that; and I prefer snowboarding anyway. The lifts had been open for a while by the time we were ready for our first trips up the hill; and we all stayed together for the first few runs. While Mom hasn't skied in a while, and it's been a lot longer for Dad and Aunt Leanne; Uncle Adam had been on the slopes the winter before he moved home again, so he was only a little rusty on his skis. The comparatively small hills weren't challenging enough for that to be a problem for any of them; and Michael, Rowen, Tim, and I were ready to fly right away; but we took it easy while Sally, Joshua, Gretchen, and Elliott got used to their snowboards since none of them had been on any slopes in one or more years.

Our four friends aren't at the same level we are, but they are all athletic enough; and could keep up with us for everything except the bigger tricks. That isn't really a big deal to have them either by-passing jumps or just hopping over them while we did different aerial tricks; and they all picked up some of the easier tricks as we went along. Mom and Dad set us free after those first few runs and they went skiing with Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne while the rest of us were entertaining ourselves.

There was one thing going on today that didn't affect the fun level for most of us; but I do want to mention – all is not well with Gretchen and Elliott. That wouldn't be news for any of the girls in our class at school, but it was more obvious today when they were the only couple in our group not really acting much like a couple. Gretchen was happier to hang out with Sally, Rowen, or I; and Elliott did the same with the guys. He was also nearly as outgoing with other kids and teens we met and chatted with while in lift lines as Tim and I are; though he was particularly interested in some girls our age while that wasn't the case for the rest of us – including Gretchen. She looked a bit annoyed about that but not particularly upset; so they're probably getting very close to what'll likely be a very quiet, mutual break-up.

We stayed out on the hills until lunchtime; meeting up with Mom, Dad, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Leanne for that munchies break. I'm not sure why it was so busy, but by then the lift lines were long and the hills were a bit crowded. Maybe the Winter Olympics had more people thinking about winter sports. The ski center remained crowded until shortly before we stopped for dinner, and then the evening session was quieter again – and more fun for us once we didn't have long waits between runs.

Mom and Dad had me open gifts during our dinner break, and while I'm not going to write about all of that, I do want to mention that Michael gave me a guitar of my own; and Mom and Dad's big gift was the ski day with my friends. Anyone reading this in the future who knows me can guess that I'm fairly enthusiastic about opening gifts; but spending the day with my parents, aunt, uncle, and friends really was an awesome gift. So was the thank-you time I spent with Michael after we got home and most of our friends went to bed for the night.

There isn't much more I can write about for the snowboarding part of the day. Mom, Dad, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Leanne had had enough snow fun by dinnertime, so they left the ski center after we went back out on the slopes and did some supply shopping at the nearest Wal-Mart before coming back to get us shortly before the ski center closed for the night. They were in couples again for the ride home, and Michael and I had Gretchen and Elliott with us for the first half of the ride home before switching up again and getting to hang out with Rowen and Tim for the Crystal Springs to home leg of the return trip.

Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne only stayed at our house long enough to say goodnight before going to get Zack and go on to their place; but we had lots of help to unload the van and put everything away. Mom and Dad went straight to bed then, and left the rest of us to have some wind down time in the lounge. Tim got the other guys playing video games while we had drinks and snacks; but it wasn't long before we were all either ready to get some sleep or have some alone time with our respective boyfriend or girlfriend. Michael and I got to have the lounge to ourselves because Rowen made that decision for us. She had lots of help for the minor clean-up of dishes in the kitchen, and then she ended up in Tim's room for a while; Sally and Joshua said their non-verbal goodnights in the living room; and Gretchen and Elliott each just went to bed.

With six other teens in the house, Michael and I didn't exactly end my day in a birthday gone wild kind of way, but we did turn the heat up more than we've been able to do in a while; and I thought that it was a perfect way to end the day – even though it also meant that we were, um, up, way later than we should have been. I may be writing this with some hind-sight on that; but we were sure then that we weren't going to regret only having enough time for a long nap when we did finally go to bed.

The four boys were in rooms on the second floor and the girls were on the third, but the reason I wasn't writing this last night was because Sally ended up having some girl chat time with Rowen and me after our separate boyfriend time; and she crashed and napped on the sofa in the lounge instead of going back to her room. That was fun too, though, and it's just as well that I didn't try to do anything extra last night or I'd have pretty much just needed to go straight from that to Tai Chi and skipped any down time.

That does wrap up the birthday report, though, and I still have another update to start next after a second long day; so let's wrap this up and get to that.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Sunday, February 9, 2014

It still feels strange doing back-to-back reports tonight, and though the fun level was down quite a bit compared to yesterday; I still had a really great day – and a couple of delayed birthday gifts too.

Morning came way too early, but Tai Chi was really fun with just Mom, Dad, Michael, and me; and giving Michael his wake-up call in his room was very entertaining too.

Not too entertaining, Dad – I promise!

With eight teens sharing three bathrooms this morning we were fairly busy juggling that with cooking, eating breakfast, and cleaning up afterward. Ethan and Ehlana needed to be picked up before church too, so Michael and I got a ride to church with his parents and sister; Rowen and Tim went with her parents, brother, and Scott; and Dad was able to give Sally, Joshua, Gretchen, and Elliott a ride while Mom took the van to get the twins from the Seagers and Drapers.

Our snowboarding trip was the top story with our friends at church; though there weren't really very many other teens wishing they'd been along for the fun. I suppose that would be different if we lived closer to a ski hill, but it was a perfect choice for me; and I'm glad we got to go to Blue Ridge a second time this year. I don't think there was any particular reason for one of those extra-long services today other than Pastor John was on a roll; but the late release from Sunday school meant that Michael needed to hurry to the Inn with his parents and everyone else who was working the lunch rush; so I was with Rowen and Tim for a while during the post-service meet and greet.

Ethan, Ehlana, and I were on our own with Mom and Dad when we went home, and after having lunch; the three of us spent the rest of the afternoon together while Mom and Dad caught up on work in the office and around the house. I helped out with some of the clean-up and laundry too; but mostly split my time between playing with Ethan and Ehlana and doing my homework with Michael when he joined us during his afternoon break.

I went to the Inn with him after that to help out with the buffets; and stayed until the second wave of food went out for the last buffet. Miranda, Jacob, and Rebecca had a pair of gifts for me then too, and a trio of birthday cupcakes for Michael, Rebecca, and me during our short dinner break; and my minor birthday roasting helped to entertain everyone in the kitchen tonight. While Michael and Rebecca stayed when I was ready to leave; I really needed to get an early start on my usual Sunday night studies and work – starting with my Magi lesson with Mom.

She did that with me before we did the bath and bedtime routine with Ethan and Ehlana because they were doing some studying for their college courses and wanted to work a bit longer than usual before calling it a night. While coming home early helped with that; it still meant that it was going on eleven o'clock by the time I came up to my room and got started on my own bedtime studies and work. I put a two o'clock time limit on that, and managed to get everything on my list done by then except for one minor family business job that can wait until tomorrow night.

There isn't anything of particular interest to report from the studies or work; and even my weekly college updates didn't have any major news – though I'm sure that'll be different next weekend! There's only one big item on the week ahead list, and that's Valentine's Day. Love will be in the air every day at school for the next five days; and even the work should be more fun in the lead-up to the big events on Friday. Michael and I need to put some extra time into our music to get ready for the Seniors' party and dance on Friday afternoon; but other than that, we don't have much else on the go.

That's probably a good thing for tomorrow because I'll be running on only a bit more than a handful of hours of sleep time in two days now. I'll use a little Magi-powered self-healing if needed in the morning, but I'm still fairly fired up from all of the fun this weekend; so that shouldn't be a problem this time.

I am ready to get what sleep I can now, though, so until next time...

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

Monday, February 10, 2014

If you ever feel the need for a seriously boring diversion from any holiday-themed anything; I've got some archive recommendations for you that will not only do that, but also induce a deep need for sleep.

I wasn't looking for that kind of diversion tonight, but got it anyway as part of my Magi lesson assignments. While all of the archives are immeasurably important and invaluable, and learning everything about our talents and how they've developed and been studied over the millennia helps us to understand and use our Magi gifts; the ancient research can sometimes be far outdated due to the advances is knowledge and technology. In this particular case, the ancient understanding of a healing technique covered in a decades-long study by a single Magi Master was not only incredibly tedious to read; but is also easily understood by anyone with basic understanding of modern genetics and medicine today without need for the trial-and-error experiments and endless theories put forward to explain the new-at-the-time healing techniques.

That's gotten way off topic, so let's get back to the daily journal news.

After a couple of fairly busy mornings, it was nice getting back to normal today. Michael came over for Tai Chi before going home to eat and get ready for his morning weight training; I was actually ready for a light, easy breakfast; and I even had time for some hair play action with Ehlana before meeting up with Rowen at her house when we needed to get to school. As expected, the only news at school that mattered to most of the girls had to be Valentine's Day-related. There really isn't anything new going on with any of that ongoing gossip; so I won't bore you with the details.

The best part of my day started after school with our study session at my house. That included a little gaming fun with Ethan and Ehlana; and our themed homework assignments seem to be a lot more fun this year for Rowen and me thanks to Tim and Michael. Going sledding then had been an option too; but we decided to stay warm instead. Rowen and Tim headed out when it was time for Michael and I to go over to his house for dinner; though they didn't have plans to hang out together tonight and were just walking to the shop and computer store together before splitting up.

Rowen had fun tonight without Tim because she was working with her Dad in the new data center, but while that's exciting for them as the project comes together and they're less than three weeks away from opening now; I'll guess that Michael and I had a better night with our family dinner; music play time; the girl chat I had with Rebecca; and a long visit with his parents for the hour or so before I went home. At dinnertime, we worked out some more details for our collective Valentine's Day plans on Friday; so let's go over that next.

Michael and Rebecca need to be at the Inn for what's going to be the busiest night of the month; so I'm going to help out too. Rebecca is helping out with the dance set-up at school too, but isn't going to this one because she's working at the Inn and then helping out with babysitting duties for her younger Bassett cousins – the second job because a lot of the usual babysitters in town will be at the school dance while a lot of parents will be out for dinner at the Inn and the follow-up party at Sheldon's Pub. After talking about it with Mom and Dad tonight, the full plan for Michael and I on Friday is that we're going to work the dinner shift at the Inn; go to the school dance for an hour or so; and then babysit at my house so that Mom and Dad can go to Sheldons' after having dinner with the twins – either at home or at the Inn. We may babysit Naomi and Aiden too; but Mom won't make that offer until tomorrow sometime.

I wonder if it'd be pushing things to have Michael stay here Friday night too if the twins are having their best friends do a sleepover? Probably, but I'm sure we'd have fun if he did!

That'll be a nice thought to head off to dreamland with; but let's wrap this up before I go there.

After having dinner and cleaning up the kitchen, Michael and I had a long music practice. We practiced our duet for Friday; had a guitar lesson with my new guitar; and finished up our alone time in his room with a minor and too-short make-out session. I stopped in for a visit with Rebecca in her room, and we mostly talked about Valentine's Day and the lack of related action for that in her life right now.

Rebecca is really only a little sad about that, and isn't interested in any particular guys right now anyway; so she's glad to have the work and babysitting distractions so that she has an excuse not to be one of the volunteers working the dance – or having any of the few single guys around our ages trying to make a love connection with her that she doesn't want. Since Rowen and I were glad to have my quiet little birthday party as an excuse to skip the Valentine's Day dance at school last year; I can relate to her feelings even while I'm also very happy to be sharing Valentine's Day with Michael this year. She may not have her own personal valentine this year, but I'm sure that Rebecca's favorite boys will make sure that she knows how much they love her – which is another reason why I love her father and brothers quite a lot too.

Our evening wind down time with Miranda and Jacob was quietly entertaining. We actually managed to not talk about work or Valentine's Day at all; and instead had fun doing a little future dreaming for ourselves. That started with a college update for Jake and Stephanie, and led to discussing Inn expansion dreams. College for Rebecca, Michael, and I came up too; and I got the chance to drop a few hints for Rebecca to think about along with talking about my own plans to go to college to become an interpreter and translator. Miranda and Michael obviously know more about that than Jacob and Rebecca can; but they're very supportive anyway – even though my choice probably seems very strange for a small town kid who also has no intention of moving away from home when I grow up.

World travel will be an option, though; and I'm going to really love getting to do that some day. That's getting close to being too much information for this point in my journals; so let's move along.

The rest of my night after getting home was fairly standard except for the bonus planning for Valentine's Day. Ethan and Ehlana were studying late again, so Mom did my Magi lesson before we did the bedtime and bath routine with them. It was heading toward eleven-thirty by the time I came up to my room and got started on my studies and work, and though I briefly tossed around the idea of having an early bedtime to catch up on some sleep; I decided to just push a bit harder now so that I can take the end of the week and weekend off instead.

That's why it's past two-thirty and I'm just getting ready to call it a night now. One more late night and a full work evening on Wednesday might be enough to finish everything I have on my plate this week for my studies and work, but we'll see how that goes; and there's always more work to do if I get bored. I don't have any major news from anything I've been working on over the past three hours or so, though, so I guess that's it and time for me to go into nap mode.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

It's been a long, busy day; but I'm going with a micro-update and then heading off to sleep.

The top events of the day were band practice; studying with Tim and Rowen at the computer store after that; and dinner, music, and some play time with Michael, Ethan, and Ehlana once Michael and I got home.

Our band practice was longer than usual to get ready for the seniors' party and dance on Friday afternoon; mostly because we'd missed a practice and some of our band mates hadn't put much effort into getting ready. That meant less time to study after that; but we managed to get most of our work done before Michael and I needed to be at my house.

There wasn't much Michael and me time tonight, but we had fun with Mom, Dad, and the twins; and we're ready for our duet on Friday too. Our play time with Ethan and Ehlana involved some music too; but we mostly played video games and had a long telepathic chat while Mom and Dad both worked in the office. Michael stayed for the bedtime snack and story, and then we had a little time just for us; but he was on his way home before ten so that I could get to work on my Magi lesson, studies, and family business work.

I don't have anything newsworthy from any of that, and I'm really, really ready to get what little downtime I can now; so...

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

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

The good news is that I worked my tail off and have every scrap of work I needed to get finished this week done. Unfortunately that's also meant another very late night; which is why that's all I have for you before I put my computer to bed and crash for a few hours.

I'm taking the rest of the week off. (From work.)

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Grandma and Grandpa are in Italy now; and they'll be starting a very romantic Valentine's Day long weekend very soon – unless they're going to sleep in after a long trip from Pakistan. As usual, I don't need some of those details; but sure hope that my future husband and I will get to be that happy when we're in our seventies! I sure lucked out in the adopted family department.

Life in Witch Falls wasn't that kind of exciting today, but I did have fun; and Michael and I are the Valentine's Day junior champs for game night this week. I'm happy about that because Miranda had put together a special batch of themed games and several of them required knowing a lot about your partner – whether you were a couple or just paired up friends or neighbors. Miranda may have had an ulterior motive other than some extra fun, and if she did; it paid off when she and Jacob won the senior championship. Michael's father might not take gaming seriously; but he does know his wife very well and aced every single question about her. Mom and Dad did pretty well too, but the adult questions were harder than they were for the kids and teens; and they were at a distinct disadvantage because Mom and I don't have a back-story that's deep enough to talk about our past with some kinds of trivia details.

Everyone had a lot of fun with the alternate gaming program whether succeeding or messing up; and the special snacks were awesome too. I'm sure that pretty much every girl there tonight was in the Valentine's Day mood by the time we went home – including a few single girls. I'm not suggesting that any matches were made tonight; but there may have been a little flirting going on tonight.

Valentine's Day was obviously a big deal around school today; and around town too – at least for the businesses getting extra, last-minute customers looking for gifts or treats for their special loved ones. Our school looks very festive with walls and displays filled with crafts. The gossip network was actually fairly quiet today; but I'm sure that'll change over the next few days as we find out how successfully the kids and teens handle the big day tomorrow. Yes, that's mostly on the boys; but I can assure you that there are more than a few girls with expectations that are too high and they'll be disappointed no matter how hard their guys try to make the day special for them.

I don't really have much to write about from our actual classes. We had a good day, and mostly played with themed lessons that were as much about having fun as learning anything. Our after-school study session didn't take long, but that was a good thing; since Michael, Rebecca, and I were able to get an early start to our work in the kitchen and have an easy time with a lighter-than-usual dinner crowd. We'll make up for that tomorrow night when they'll have a full house a couple of times over – just like they'll have at breakfast and lunch.

I guess there isn't much else to cover tonight, since I've already hit the game night highlights. Michael and I walked home together after cleaning up the dining room and helping his parents get everything set up for the Valentine's Day breakfast, but we did our goodnight hugs and kisses on his front porch before I went on to my house in time to help Mom and Dad with getting the twins into bed for the night. Mom did a quick Magi lesson with me; I've been multi-tasking my bedtime computing while soaking in my Jacuzzi; and I'll be out of the tub and into bed for the night shortly after I wrap this up.

There may be some girls having a restless night in anticipation of the big day, but thanks to too little sleep lately; I won't be one of them. Dreaming of some hot Valentine's Day fun with Michael is an option, though, so with that in mind; I'm out of here.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Friday, February 14, 2014

Happy Valentine's Day!

There's been so much happening today, let's just start from the beginning and I'll try not to miss too much of the action.

Michael and I put a little extra effort into our good morning embrace before Tai Chi; so our day started off great! Having him stay for breakfast; exchanging gifts; and then spending some extra time with Mom and Ehlana while the three of us got appropriately beautiful for our favorite guys was all awesome too. I won't bother detailing all of the gifts we exchanged, but I can assure you that we were all very happy; and the guys did a great job with their Valentine gift choices.

They also obviously talked to each other about that too. For instance, Dad gave roses to Mom, Ehlana, and me at breakfast, and then Michael sent roses to me at school – which Dad has done every year before now. I hope he understands why I needed to keep all of Michael's roses this year instead of sharing some like Rowen and I have before; but I just couldn't part with any of them – even though there were a few girls who didn't have any sent to them when the flower deliveries were dropped off in each classroom.

This is probably a good place to mention that Rebecca had a pair of surprises this morning – a secret admirer Valentine's Day gift on her desk in home room; and a flower delivery that was in addition to the one sent by her father and brothers. She may not be in any hurry to date anyone right now, but she loved the gifts, and her secret admirer picked out something really special – replacing a necklace that she'd loved a lot but had broken a while ago.

Yes, I do know who, and no, I won't tell you even though you're reading this in our future; and may know who he is too. That probably seems strange to you, but sometimes it's nice to just write and think about the now instead of being stuck in the future – like I am a lot of times with my family business and future plans work.

Most of the teens in our class were happy campers today with only a few exceptions. I don't want to dwell on that when it's been such an amazing day for me; but there were disappointed girls as I knew there would be; and some guys who are in the doghouse tonight. That problem certainly wasn't exclusive to the Grade Eight class, but since Michael and I didn't spend much time at the dance tonight; we didn't even hear much about most of the drama going on today.

Tim probably followed Michael's lead for his Valentine's Day plans with Rowen, and while they both sent us roses; their special picnic lunch was obviously put together for us by Jacob – and Nathan at the Olde Bakery. That was an awesome surprise and we were even on our own for most of our lunch break because they set up our picnic in our home room class instead of doing that in the cafeteria. That was almost as much for the other kids and teens as for us, since we definitely had the best meal by far; and it just wouldn't have been nice to eat all of that amazing food while nearby students were stuck with the usual lunch bag standards.

We didn't actually get much done in class this morning; and Michael, Rowen, and I were gone all afternoon with the band. As soon as we were finished having lunch, we headed for the music room and started helping with hauling gear over to the church and getting set up. Michael had his guitar and saxophone with him, but I didn't need to haul my keyboard around because the church has an electric piano in the reception hall.

The Seniors' Valentine's Day party and dance was one of my very favorite parts of the day; and every kid and teen in Witch Falls should feel blessed that we live in a town where love and commitment really means something. That's obvious when so many of the seniors were at the party with life-long partners; and enjoying spending time with friends they'd known since early childhood. Michael and I loved playing the old songs with the band; but our duet was just as awesome and amazing for us as our Christmas concert music had been. While we did the Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole version of Unforgettable; I think that the best compliment we were given was that we sounded just like the great singers of that era. Making the ladies cry was a close second; and Michael and I both earned a lot of hugs – including some from his own grandparents.

While we wouldn't dream of claiming to sound this good; I think we at least did the song justice. Here's a YouTube link for anyone in the future who might not have heard the old classic before.

Unforgettable - Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole

We were late getting out of school today, but that was only because Michael, Rowen, and I helped with getting our instruments and all of the band gear back to the school after the party was over. Tim helped too after last class, but when we were finished that; he and Rowen headed over to the computer store when Michael and I needed to get to the Inn after dropping our gear off at our houses.

Okay, we might have spent a few minutes making out at his house before getting to the Inn; but it really was only a few minutes – and it is Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day meals at the Inn are always very busy, but having it on a Friday meant being sold out for two sittings and more than a few disappointed customers who couldn't get tickets for the best meal in town. The early meal mostly had teen couples and families attending; while the late sitting was almost exclusively adult couples – and most of them were having dinner at the Inn before going on to the party at Sheldon's.

Michael, Rebecca, and I basically missed all of the action in the dining room because we were very busy in the kitchen – as was everyone else as we tried to keep up with the workload. We only took a short break for a snack meal; though Rebecca stopped for a longer meal break when Michael and I were set free after the dessert trays went out as the second sitting wound down. Miranda and some of the other servers kept us updated on any major news stories – like who was there with whom; and best gifts of the day. I loved every minute that I spent at the Inn tonight, but the highlight was Rebecca and I both got a little gift from Miranda and Jacob.

I am so going to keep Michael – and his family!

We're up to the Valentine's Day dance at the school part of the report, and though we had fun; it might have been easier tonight if we'd just skipped that hour or so of action. There wasn't time to hit the showers and get dressed up more than we already were; so we only freshened up a bit at the Inn before walking over to the school; and we were definitely dressed down compared to most of the teens at the dance.

I did like getting to spend some of that time with Rowen and Tim, and they were having a great time at the dance; splitting their time between sitting and chatting with our classmates during dance breaks and getting to hang out with Kyle and the other football guys and their girlfriends. Those older guys are letting Tim – and Michael – hang out with them more often now that he's doing the daily weight training with them; but he's still tolerated mostly because he's Kyle's 'little' cousin.

Then again, every guy at school is little compared to Kyle. It's just more obvious with a pair of Grade Eight teens.

Anyway, Michael and I spent about half of our hour there on the dance floor; and the rest of the time with Rowen, Tim, and some of our other friends. We needed to be home by ten so that we could take over babysitting duties from Mom and Dad, so we left the dance by a quarter to ten; and they were already dressed up and ready to go by the time we got there. They only stayed long enough for the hand-off; and then Michael and I took Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden up to the lounge after doing the goodnight hugs and kisses with Mom and Dad on their way outside.

While our three boys gave us our choice of entertainment, and it was tempting to pick an appropriately gooey chick flick for the occasion; Ehlana, Naomi, and I opted for a half-hour or so of video gaming for the guys followed by a kid-appropriate action-comedy movie. Lots of cuddling was involved – including among two sets of junior couples. I knew about Ethan's Valentine's Day plans for Naomi, but it was fun hearing about it from her – and Ehlana – while Michael, Ethan, and Aiden were playing their games. I wasn't surprised to find out that Aiden had given Olde Bakery Valentine's gifts to his three best friends, but he had a special little gift for Ehlana too; which definitely made her day.

Michael and I both thought that it was very cute having Ethan and Naomi cuddled together and with me on my side of us; and Ehlana and Aiden on his side. Our play time alone after we put them to bed for the night was by far my favorite part of the day; but I also really loved getting to have that two and a half hours or so with my sister, brother, and their best friends too.

The four younger kids were tucked in for the night by a bit after twelve-thirty, and thanks to it being Friday night; Mom and Dad were able to stay out late with their friends without having to worry about getting up early for work or church. Michael and I were very happy with that late-night plan too; since we ended up with more than an hour and a half of play time that was hotter than anything we've managed to have time for since the Christmas holidays.

While getting dressed up for the dance hadn't been an option tonight; changing into something more comfortable – and hotter – for Michael was possible; though I wasn't wearing the nightdress or lingerie for quite a bit of that hour and a half. Getting undressed again was certainly way more fun, and while we definitely don't get as much practice at that as we'd both like; we are getting better and more confident in our play time.

Hopefully that doesn't scare the parents reading this in the future, but are there really very many Magi who haven't seen someone of the opposite sex naked by the time they're thirteen and done at least a little bit of exploring of their sexuality? I was definitely behind the curve on that compared to most of the girls in my grade; though Rowen and I are both catching up fast – a fact that I'm sure Michael and Tim both appreciate a lot!

I haven't heard from Rowen tonight, and she was likely sleeping before Michael and I split up and he went to bed in his room on the second floor after we finished saying goodnight to Mom and dad; but I'm sure we'll have lots to talk about tomorrow. She and Tim were going to have some alone time tonight after the dance too – at his house while his parents were at Sheldon's. She's certainly getting over being shy in private with Tim; and he's discovering that there's some fire in Rowen that has nothing to do with her hair color that is very different than her shyness in public.

Okay, that's probably more information than I need to write in my journal about my best friend; and the point is only that I'm really glad that she's so happy now.

I don't really need to add any more details about what Michael and I were doing tonight either; and there really isn't much else to add.

We were fully dressed and cuddling in the lounge while watching the end of the movie we didn't really catch the start or middle of when Mom and Dad got home; and we went downstairs to have a quick visit with them and wash up our snack bowls and glasses while we got the pub party report. They had fun with their friends – including with Miranda and Jacob when they joined the action after the Inn closed. Since his parents had been out anyway, going home could have been an option for Michael, but he'd decided earlier today to just stay overnight with us so we could do Tai Chi and breakfast whenever we all decided to get up in the morning. Mom and Dad were more tired than we were, so we only heard about a couple of the best pub stories and they got our update without the alone time recap before we all came up to our rooms for the night.

Michael's in the room below the lounge; and he might have decided that specifically to give Mom and Dad some space. I'm not going to even think about what my parents may be doing to wrap up their Valentine's Day fun; though I'll probably have a few dreams about what it would be like to have Michael with me in my bed all night instead of in another room and one floor away.

Once I was in bed with Mandy, I started doing my usual nightly computer checks; but there weren't any email from anyone in the family tonight. I'm sure they all had better things to do tonight than sit around writing e-letters to me; but there will hopefully be some extended email updates in my inbox by Sunday night. I really hope that all of my favorite collegians and cousins are having a very happy weekend with their favorite boys or girls.

I'm not doing any work or studying, and I want to get some sleep in case Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden decide to get up early, so that's it for tonight; and I hope you're having as much fun as I've had – regardless of what day of the year you're reading this in the future.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Giving Michael his wake-up call this morning with some enthusiastic help from Ehlana and Naomi was my favorite part of the morning; and getting a second evening in a row with some Michael and me alone time was a great way to end the day before he went home for the night a little while ago and I hopped into my Jacuzzi for a long soak while doing my nightly computer checks and a little random surfing.

We slept in until seven-thirty, and then Michael and I did a Tai Chi lesson for Naomi and Aiden. Ethan and Ehlana followed along with their best friends; but left the teaching to us as we helped Aiden and Naomi work their way through each posture of the easiest short form. That's easier for Naomi than it is for Aiden right now because she's the oldest, but he has fun with it; and I'm sure he'll know enough to keep up with the other three kids by later this spring or early summer – when they'll be able to get together to practice more often than they can now.

Dad and Michael cooked up a big breakfast for us, and then we did the Valentine's Day evening recap while having our morning meal. Michael went home after that while Mom and I started our work morning with the post-breakfast clean-up. Naomi was picked up by her father at around ten, and then Dad took Ethan and Aiden with him for a supply run that included dropping Aiden off at the bakery. That gave Mom, Ehlana, and I an empty house, and allowed us to use a little Magi power to help speed up the cleaning.

After a later-than-usual breakfast, we just went with soup for lunch; and then the twins and I were set free to play while Mom and Dad moved into the office for the afternoon with cups of hot coffee and plans to work for a few uninterrupted hours. The temperature climbed above freezing today, and the forecast is for much warmer weather next week; so we decided that some snow play time while we had some to play in was a good idea. We had time to build a pair of twin snow people and have a little snowball fight before it was time for Michael's afternoon break; and then we met up with him and headed for one of the toboggan hills on the south side of the ridge.

There were a lot of kids and teens out on the hill with the same idea of getting some sledding in before the melt next week. Winter may still have lots of life in it still this year, but you never know for sure; and I'd be okay with the idea of having a March Break that actually felt like spring this year with some warm weather play opportunities. I have no idea why I'm already thinking about the next holiday a day after Valentine's Day, but that week off will be another first for Rowen and me with boyfriends; so I think we'll manage to have fun regardless of the weather!

When Michael needed to get back to the Inn, Ethan, Ehlana, and I stopped in with him for a hot chocolate and snack break; and then we went on to the computer store for a visit with Rowen and her parents. The data center opens in two weeks; and the construction work is done now except for a few finishing details that have to wait on work that Owen is doing with his new computer system installations. Rowen spent most of the day helping him with that; but she was happy to take a break and give us a tour.

I've mentioned that the data center won't be anything on the level of the big data storage places, and the systems probably won't seem that impressive to readers in the future; but it is pretty cool seeing it come together now; and the technology is state-of-the-art right now. It would certainly be science fiction cool to anyone thirty-five or forty years ago when a megabyte seemed like a lot of data!

Ethan was talking to Ehlana and me about that after we got home, and while I don't really think about our photographic memories in data storage terms; he tossed around some fairly impressive numbers about just how much computer storage we'd need to record everything in our own memories. Think high-definition video for every waking moment of every day along with total recall of dreams and every piece of data we've ever read or learned; and you're getting the idea. What's even cooler is that Ethan doesn't sense any upper limits to our memory talent – only in how fast we can process data. Mom and I are ahead of my brother and sister because we've been around longer, but they're both able to learn faster than either of us; and Ethan is able to read somewhere around four times faster than the rest of us; so he'll catch up and pass us in a matter of years instead of decades.

That's one of the reasons he's uniquely qualified for his future jobs and responsibilities; but let's not get into that today.

I say that mostly because I'm in need of some extra sleep tonight; and don't want to get wound up with too many thoughts about our future plans that could keep me awake for hours if I let that happen. I also need to get out of the Jacuzzi soon and finish getting ready for bed; so let's just wind this down and call it a night.

Mom and I cooked a chicken, veggies, and rice stir fry dinner with some supervision and taste-testing from Ethan and Ehlana. Dad stopped working long enough to have dinner with us, and then Mom and I did the clean-up while he got back to work again. He's got a busy week ahead in the city; and has a lot to get done to be ready for it. Mom and I had some play time with the twins after that; did bath time with them; and were ready for the bedtime snack and story by the time Michael came over after being set free from the Inn.

We did that in the office with Dad; Michael and I tucked the twins in for the night with some guy and girl chat time; and then he and I came up to the lounge for that alone time fun. We half-watched a movie while we played, and while I wouldn't say that things were as hot tonight as last night; that was mostly because we chose slow and tender as we cuddled and explored. I'm sure that we won't get to have many weekends like this one with everything else we have on the go all of the time; but I'd also be very okay with it if we could!

Those thoughts aren't exactly making me sleepy, so I'd better not go there either. Michael went home after the movie; Mom and Dad were getting ready to head for bed by then too; and I've already mentioned that some Jacuzzi time was my top priority after coming up to my room for the night. Since Dad will need to work most of the afternoon, I don't really have any major plans for tomorrow other than a study session with Michael, Tim, and Rowen to do the assignments we didn't want to do on Valentine's Day. I'll help to keep Ethan and Ehlana entertained too; but it should be a fairly quiet day – and I'm not going to help out with the buffets at the Inn this week. Friday night was enough fun for one weekend for me; though I will miss spending that time with Michael.

It really is time for me to get out of the tub now, though, and there isn't anything else to cover tonight; so until next time...

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

Sunday, February 16, 2014

After a pair of fairly busy mornings, it was nice to have a quiet start to our Sunday; and that pretty much describes most of my day.

Michael came over for Tai Chi, but then he went home to have breakfast with his parents and Rebecca while I was busy helping Mom and Dad with the work in our kitchen and getting the twins ready for church. While there was a themed service and Sunday school lessons today that was all fun for us; I'll be honest and suggest that the Valentine's Day gossip was given more attention by most of the teen girls than anything we were taught today.

It's also at least a little bit funny that Rowen and I were on the outside of those chats because we'd never dated at all let alone at Valentine's Day; and now we're still on the fringe because we don't have any good gossip to tell about our weekend fun with the boys. Then again, that's because we're not talking about the best parts at all; or we would definitely be getting some attention! Yes, I write about some of that here in my journal, but this will only be read by adults in the future; and the purpose of including information about my personal life isn't to pass on spicy gossip for the entertainment of my friends.

Moving along, there was enough time after church for Michael and I to do a little socializing before I walked with him to the Inn on my way home. Mom and I put together a quick lunch; sent Dad off to the office to get started on the rest of his homework; and then did some cleaning and laundry before she joined him there and I took Ethan and Ehlana up to my room to hang out there for the afternoon. Rowen and Tim came over early and joined in for the fun while we waited for Michael to join us during his afternoon break, and then once he arrived; we took care of our homework assignments while the twins watched cartoons.

I almost changed my mind about helping out at the Inn tonight when it was time for Michael to get back there to help out with the buffet rush; but managed to stick with my plans for a quiet evening and settled for a long goodbye hug and kisses before sending him on his way. Rowen and Tim had stayed and played some video games with Ethan and Ehlana while I was busy with that, and then they headed over to her house for a Sunday night dinner with both sets of their parents.

There's enough of an age difference between Rowen's parents and Tim's that they weren't friends as kids or teens; but they do have businesses that are basically across the road from each other; and have become pretty good friends in the years since Rowen's parents took over running the computer store from his mother. I'm sure that'll change again now just as it is with my parents and Michael's; and I hope that'll be as much fun for all of them as it has been for all of us.

Once my friends were gone, I helped Mom with making dinner; Dad took a break for that; and then we all spent some time in the office with him. Mom and I did some family business work; and the twins worked on their college homework. This is probably a good time for an update for that; though you're welcome to hop over to their education archive if you want all of the details.

Though they're just weeks into their college education, Ethan and Ehlana are blasting through the material. They have a fairly advance set of lab equipment and supplies that's mostly for Ehlana; though Ethan's taking enough sciences that he'll be able to help her in the lab when needed once it opens in September. That's actually part of their education plan; since Ehlana will need access to all of that equipment as she continues her education; and it'd be a bit tough to hide that kind of gear here at home like we can now with just a couple of cases and in a pair of storage cupboards that are ironically locked up to protect the toddlers in the house.

Ehlana's studies are more obvious when she is working because of the lab equipment she sets up on the table in the office, and she's more overtly enthusiastic; but it can be fascinating to watch Ethan work on his iPad or computer. I've mentioned before that his reading abilities are much better than what Mom, Ehlana, and I can do, and seeing him in action with that gives us an idea of how our own abilities would look if we were watched by 'normal' people. That talent is why he's able to take the science courses with Ehlana in addition to his own work; and he's also enhancing his history studies by reading everything he can find in the archives from each time period in history he's learning about.

I haven't directly mentioned that in this journal before, but that is something he and I both appreciate about our archives – all of the historical knowledge within them that has been lost to most of humanity. Mom and I still feel blessed to know that we're not the last of the Magi of the Light as we had thought we were before coming to Witch Falls, but even with those connections now; it's still hard to imagine those past times when Magi moved freely throughout the world. We're certainly thankful to all of those Magi who managed to save as much history and wisdom as they could.

Getting back to the point, Ethan and Ehlana are on-track to finish the first semester of their freshman year by the end of March; and will likely write their final exams the week after March Break. That'll give them almost three months after that to finish up their first year by the end of June; and then they'll start their second year in September – when they'll be able to use the lab for the science classes. They still have details to work out for doing that when there will be non-Magi working at the lab too; but I'm sure they'll have everything ready by then.

I did my family business work and most of my studying in the office tonight – including my Magi lesson with Mom. We put the twins to bed at a bit after ten – once Dad was finished and ready for his week in the city; and we were all ready to head to bed. No, Mom and Dad weren't going to bed because they were sleepy; but let's not go there. It didn't take me long to get ready for bed and cuddled with Mandy; and then I finished the bit of studying I had left to get done before moving on to my usual bedtime computer checks.

Grandma and Grandpa had an amazing weekend in Italy; and they'll be continuing the fun this week with just a couple of business-related jobs to do around what's mostly going to be two vacation weeks before they'll be home again on the first Sunday in March. Jake and Stephanie win the best weekend award for my favorite college couples; though that's partly deduced because of how much information wasn't in Stephanie's report. They went out for a couple of good meals and an off-Broadway show during the two nights they spent together at a hotel; but there were also a lot of hours in the weekend that she didn't even try to account for in her email. Violet and Christina had similar gaps in their weekend reports, but they also stayed on their respective campuses; and weren't doing sleepovers – or at least they weren't admitting to it if they did.

I had a pair of text-chats with Michael and Rowen tonight too, so they brought me up to speed on the latest news from Rowen's family dinner and all of the buffet action at the Inn. They're both sleeping by now, and I'm ready to go there now too so I'll be ready for the early wake-up call to see Dad off on his way to Crystal Springs. While it will be a bit busier around here while Dad's away; we also don't have all that much on the go for extra work or play time. Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I have a birthday party to attend on Wednesday for Kris – the last in our grade to turn thirteen; and the Maple Valley winter festival is this weekend. We'll be going to that too; though we haven't really worked out the details yet. The rest of the week is pretty much open; and Michael and I haven't even decided whether we're doing dinner at his house tomorrow night or hanging out at my house and helping Mom with the twins.

We can decide that tomorrow. I'm ready to sleep right now, and don't have anything else to write about anyway; so...

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

Monday, February 17, 2014

The early morning wake-up call to see Dad off on his way to Crystal Springs is a lot easier when I haven't stayed up working until two or three o'clock. Ethan, Ehlana, and I had fun spending that time with our parents; and enjoyed the cuddle time with Mom in her bed after Dad left.

Tai Chi with Michael was good too, and then we were pretty much back to our normal morning routine after Michael left to get ready for his morning weight training at school. Rowen collected me on her way to school today; and we ended up walking most of the way there with Rebecca.

With Valentine's Day now over, we got back to our regular school work. The gossip around school included the weekend post-mortem; but we were collectively moving on too. I haven't mentioned the Winter Olympics yet in my journal; mostly because I haven't really been following them other than during my usual nightly computer checks. They weren't getting much attention around school last week either, but have caught the attention of some of the kids and teens over the weekend. Some of our friends think it's a bit strange that I don't even want to watch the snowboarding and skiing events since I love snowboarding so much; but I was much happier to be snowboarding for my birthday rather than watching it on television. If I want to learn new tricks; I can watch clips on YouTube – I just can't get all that excited about competitions that have become more about money and politics as athletic talent and sportsmanship.

I don't want to write a long diatribe about professional sports or international competitions like the Olympics; so let's just say that I think the money could go to better uses; and leave it at that.

Back to normal at school meant having a fairly quiet day even with the extra bits of gossip going around on the grapevine. Michael, Rowen, Tim, and I had a pretty good day; and that continued when we ended up going to Michael's house for our after-school study session. We did that because Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana were getting ready to go there when we got to my house; expecting to be working there as usual. Rebecca studied with us in the dining room; and we had time for some video gaming action in the living room before Rowen and Tim needed to leave – though Michael, Tim, and the twins did most of the playing while Rebecca, Rowen, and I watched and talked with them.

Jacob was experimenting with a new chicken entree tonight; and though he still isn't satisfied with how it turned out; his captive audience and taste-testers thought it was delicious. The dinner conversation was good too – whether we were talking business and changes that'll happen around town because of the new lab as we get closer to it opening in September or having Ethan and Ehlana tell us about the latest fun in their lives at KidZone, home, and with their friends. They mentioned Michael's cousin, Sophia; and that they don't get to see her as often because she doesn't go to KidZone very often; and I got the feeling that Miranda may invite her youngest Bassett niece along the next time we do a joint family meal or event. I'm sure that all three kids will love that if she does.

As usual, Michael, Rebecca, and I were on the clean-up crew, but we had two junior supervisors to keep us entertained; and then Michael and I had Ethan with us for my guitar lesson while Ehlana got to have some girl time with Rebecca. We all had some play time with our parents after that; and we ended up staying until nearly nine-thirty before heading home. That meant no alone time for Michael and me, and an uninspiring goodnight hug and kiss; but I've been too busy since then to think about what Michael and I didn't get to do tonight – and we had fun with our families anyway.

Mom and I did the bath and bed routine with the twins; did my Magi lesson once they were tucked in; and I've been doing my usual bedtime studying and work since climbing into bed with Mandy at eleven-thirty. All of that work has kept me busy, and I've worked a bit longer than I'd planned; but I'm getting ahead on the study plan for this week. That's made for a quick return to late nights; but I'm doing okay tonight and want to do more tomorrow night too so I can take Wednesday night off when we'll already have a busy day with Kris' party after school that'll keep me from my usual work night.

I do need to get at least some sleep, though, and don't have any other news for today; so I'm going to wrap this up now and call it a night. Until next time...

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

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

We've had a really good day, and for Michael and I; that wasn't just because we started and ended our day sharing hugs and kisses.

Okay, my day didn't end with that because I still had my usual bedtime studies and work to do after Michael went home tonight; but our time together today did keep me in very good spirits while doing all of that work.

The weather warm-up was very welcome today; and it was nice enough that I'm fairly sure that every kid and teen at school was outside for part or all of our lunch break – even though the snow was quickly turning into a mushy mess in a lot of places around the yard. I'm skipping over the action this morning because there really isn't much to write about from home or school. We started a new module in music class and wrote a test in science; but the rest of the morning was quiet and uneventful. Ditto that for after lunch; though nearly everyone seemed to be in a good mood thanks to the comparatively nice day and fresh air.

Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I did our study session at Rowen's house after school this week because things were a bit hectic at the computer store; and it was easier for her parents not to have us there to get in the way. They've basically got a week left to go to get the work done for the data center because Patricia wants to have the last couple of days before the grand opening just for cleaning and polishing – and to set-up for the open house and the sale they're going to have in the store to compliment showcasing the data center.

Rowen and Tim were happy with that change in plans; especially when Michael and I left them there alone for a while when we needed to get to my house to help Mom with making dinner. After the special dinner at his house last night, we went with an easy-meal; so the work on each side of it didn't really take that long. That allowed Mom to do Magi lessons for all of us early; and then Michael and I played with Ethan and Ehlana in my room while she did some work in the office. We had a music practice and did some video gaming; and then Ethan and Ehlana's bedtime routine included snack time in the office with Mom and a computer video chat bedtime story with Dad before Michael and I tucked them in for the night.

That left Michael and I with a chance for a little alone time in the lounge before he needed to get home, and we had fun with that before having another little visit with Mom in the office again when he was getting ready to leave. Mom and I went over a few family business-related issues after he was gone; and then I came up to my room to get ready for bed. Mandy and I have been cuddling since then while I've been working; and I've put in extra time again tonight to make sure that I can take tomorrow night off without feeling guilty about skipping the work – or leaving anything undone that can't wait until Thursday night.

Doing another late night also has me a bit worn out again, but I'll just do a little self-healing to deal with that in the morning if I'm too tired. That's all I have for today, and it's time to get whatever sleep I can before it'll be time to get up and going again; so, until next time...

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

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Happy 13th Birthday, Kris! Happy 18th Birthday, Christina!

I'll guess that Christina is having the happier day; but that's because she's just found out that her boyfriend is a Magi; and probably knows about Stephanie, Violet, and Dillon by now too. She'll probably do the visit with Mom whenever she and Josiah are home next; though I'm not sure whether they're coming home for their Spring Break yet.

The birthday party action was the fun part of the day for pretty much everyone there; and it was my first time out to his family's farm. We've had another decent weather day – at least until the rain started a while ago, - and had a good day at school; but there wasn't anything newsworthy to write about until after school. Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I split up to go home and get ready for the party, but then we met up again at Landry's Auto to get a ride out to Kris' farm with Tim's mother.

Kris and his family are members of the Robinson clan, so in addition to inviting his friends; he had quite a few relatives at the party too. That included his teacher aunt and uncle, Mary and Trevor Robinson and their kids, so I liked getting to spend some non-school time with our music teacher; but Tim was really fired up when he got to talk football with Coach Robinson and a bunch of the other guys.

While I'm thinking about that, and just because I can do it; here's some news that Coach Robinson doesn't know about in our now – he's going to be very surprised next season. He's a favorite teacher with the guys, and is always upbeat and enthusiastic with his players; but it's also obvious to me that he doesn't expect his team to be very competitive now that Kyle's graduating and heading off to college. That is going to leave a very large hole in our team's defense that he's right to think won't get filled anytime soon, but I don't think he realizes how much Tim feels the need to prove himself on the field; and that heart and desire is going to make a big difference.

Moving along, since the weather was still cooperating at the time, we had a barbeque dinner; though we ate indoors – the kids and teens in the basement family and play room; and the adults in the big, farmhouse kitchen that even had room to feed the troops during harvest time. Michael and I ended up sitting with Sally and Joshua during dinner; and out of the way of most of the teen action that revolved around Kris; his girlfriend, Denise; and their best friends. Kris' older brother and sister, Gerry and Daphne, were both popular too. They were mostly hanging out with us to help with younger cousin control; but Daphne didn't mind getting drawn into the girl chat; and Gerry played video games or foosball with both the other teens and the younger kids.

This party was a bit different having groups upstairs and down; though I'm sure the parents felt a little more sane by the end of the night being away from the noise for most of the evening. Having the birthday cake and doing the gifts downstairs felt a bit strange too; but that was easier for Kris' parents too. One thing that was interesting for me was actually seeing Kris' classic video game collection instead of just hearing about it. He got razzed a bit from some of the guys, but some of his old gaming systems had belonged to his father; it's something they can play at together; and Kris doesn't really care what anyone else thinks about his little hobby. He also really appreciated the two games that Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I tracked down for him on the internet to give to him – even though the actual games aren't as cool as the new games he was given for his X-Box One system.

Being a school night, we also didn't have a late party either; and our pick-up time tonight was at nine o'clock. Patricia came to get us because Owen was still working in the data center; and my Mom was getting a break so she didn't have to haul the twins around to come and get us. Rowen's Mom dropped Tim off at his house, and Michael and me at his before taking Rowen with her and going back to the computer store. Michael only stopped in long enough to get his computer bag, and then he came home with me so we could do our homework.

We ended up doing the bedtime story with Ethan and Ehlana first, along with a party recap; and then we did our homework at the table in the office and talked to Mom while she worked on the family business after we'd tucked the twins in for the night. Since we had Michael with us again, Mom also did another Magi lesson with both of us; so it was going on eleven when Michael was ready to head home for the night.

Mom and I both came up to our rooms after I saw him out, and I was in bed by shortly after eleven. I've only done the basic nightly computing, and am skipping the studying and family business work tonight in favor of the extra down time so I can catch up on my sleep. There wasn't anything particularly interesting in my email, and always too much going on in the news around the world to cover here; so that's all I have for today.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Thursday, February 20, 2014

We've had a lot of rain here overnight, and more this morning; but it had pretty much ended by the time we were set free from school and headed over to the Inn for our study time.

It's been a pretty good day, but I don't actually have much to write about. Mom, Ethan, Ehlana, and I had a short morning chat with Grandma and Grandpa at breakfast; and a bedtime chat with Dad after getting home from game night. At school, the Maple Valley winter festival was the top chat topic, with the Olympics a close second; and for our class, Kris' birthday party recap kept us entertained for a while in the morning. Rebecca joined Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I for our studying after school; and then three out of five of us had fun helping out in the kitchen for a fairly light dinner rush. That was normal for the week after Valentine's Day – or any other holidays – so Miranda had a light crew scheduled; and it almost felt like putting together a big family dinner.

With game night back to normal, Michael and I didn't win a second junior championship in a row, but Miranda did – with some help from Mom. Jacob teased her about trading in her co-champion partner this week; but his wife was unapologetic – especially after getting that two-peat senior championship. I stayed to help with the clean-up and to walk home with Michael tonight; and then met up with Mom and the twins at home.

The bedtime routine with Ethan and Ehlana that included the chat with Dad took a while, and then Mom did a long Magi lesson with me; so it was eleven-thirty by the time I came up to my room and got started on my studies and family business work. It's a good thing that I got some extra sleep last night because it's going to be four o'clock soon; and I really am only going to have time for a nap. That's mostly because I got caught up in a business project that I didn't want to leave unfinished until next week; but it's done now and I can take the weekend off without feeling guilty about slacking off.

Since I'm not going to get much rest, though, that's it for now; so until next time...

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

Friday, February 21, 2014

I'm going to make this quick because I'm tired and want to get enough sleep so I'll be ready for a play afternoon tomorrow at the Maple Valley WinterFest.

We've had yet another decent weather day, and without rain today; we were able to spend some time outdoors both at school and once we were set free for the weekend. I don't have anything new to report from school; and our after-school adventure included taking Ethan and Ehlana for a walk down to the falls and visits to see Aunt Leanne and Claire to drop off treats we'd picked up for them – and us – at the Bakery on our way through. We checked in at Landry's and the computer store to get approval for Tim and Rowen to stay for dinner and a movie night with us; and then we got home in time for Rowen and I to help out in the kitchen while Michael and Tim played video games with the twins.

We had the full compliment of aunts, uncles, and cousins over tonight with bonus guests Pastor John, Stacey, and Rebekkah. It seemed like too long since our last full dinner and a movie gang was together; and I really loved the dinner time with everyone – even though we split up for the movie part of the night. Teens and toddlers were in the lounge again tonight and we watched a Disney movie while the parents kept the babies with them and watched an action-comedy. Dad got home a bit earlier than usual tonight, so we all took a mid-movie intermission together in the living room after helping him with his cases, luggage, and some supplies he'd picked up for Mom and Aunt Leanne. Ethan and Ehlana opted to finish our movie after that, but then they did the bedtime routine with Mom and Dad after that – and after our guests headed out after their movie was over.

That left Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I with enough time to watch another movie; and we were quite happy to chat while watching a fairly lame alien invasion flick while Rowen and I cuddled with our boyfriends. We all have work of some kind in the morning, so Michael, Tim, and Rowen headed home after the second movie – at around eleven-thirty. Mom and Dad had still been in the living room then, half-watching an Olympics highlights of the day report, so after saying goodnight to Michael and seeing him out; I finally had time for a little visit with them and some cuddle time with Dad before we all headed up to bed for the night.

It was a bit after midnight by the time I climbed into bed with Mandy and got started on a very light version of my nightly computer checks. While I am skipping a lot of fun little things that happened today, the need for sleep is more important right now; so that'll have to be it for tonight. I definitely do not want to be too tired for our WinterFest fun – or what will hopefully be some Michael and me alone time tomorrow night after he's done work at the Inn. With that in mind, and hopefully in my dreams soon too; I'm out of here.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Let's skip over the morning recap, other than to mention that we had a big country breakfast that Michael stayed for after Tai Chi before he went home again and I spent the morning helping out around the house and yard. We didn't skip lunch, but delayed it so that we could check out the food at the Maple Valley WinterFest.

Michael was set free from the Inn early, and he and I went there with Mom, Dad, and the twins; but we met up with Rowen and Tim when we got to Maple Valley. They'd arrived an hour or so earlier; getting a ride there with his parents. They were all spending the afternoon at the festival too, so Mom and Dad ended up hanging out with them. Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I wandered around on our own for about half of the time we were there, and had Ethan and Ehlana with us part of that time; but that wasn't to exercise any teen freedom or anything – we just wanted to do different activities and didn't have time to do everything.

The highlights for me included pancakes covered with the amazing, local maple syrup; the craft show; the demonstrations for making the syrup and other sweets; and the one talent show we had time to catch shortly before we needed to get Michael back to the Inn to help out with the dinner rush. I'm not counting our syrup and treats purchases in that; but only because we'll be enjoying most of those things over the next weeks and months – not today. After dropping Michael off at the Inn, we needed to do a little running around to drop off the sweet souvenirs we'd picked up for our family and friends; so it was heading toward six o'clock by the time we got home. Mom opted for a quick, hot dinner, and after cleaning up; we settled in for a quiet evening together in the living room.

Michael was at the Inn until it closed, but still came over after that; getting here in time for Ethan and Ehlana's bedtime story and snack. He and I tucked them in too; and then came up to the lounge to watch a movie and enjoy some alone time while Mom and Dad did a little work in the office. While our afternoon fun at the WinterFest had been great, the play time tonight with Michael was the most heart-pounding excitement of the day; and I'm a very happy camper right now.

Oh, and just in case you're wondering if we've had any issues with parental interruptions yet, the only thing I'm going to say about that tonight is that I'm fairly sure that Mom and Dad had more to worry about us checking in on them in the office than the other way around. Yes, that is too much information for me already, and if you're using your imagination while reading this in my future – please never admit that to my older self.

Moving along, Michael went home shortly before midnight – about ten minutes after Mom and Dad checked in with us in the lounge on their way to bed. I was changed and in bed by a few minutes after midnight; and the only reason it's closing in on one o'clock now is because I've needed a little time to wind down and be ready to sleep. I haven't done any work other than a quick work-related email reply; but I did have text-chats with Rowen and Michael before they both put their computers away when they were each ready to crash for the night. Rowen spent the evening with Tim since here parents were busy in the data center anyway; but they didn't get to have as much alone time as Michael and I did because they spent most of the time with his parents instead. She was a little disappointed about that even though she also likes Tim's parents a lot and enjoys doing stuff with them.

I guess that's pretty much everything I have for today. Tomorrow will be a work day for Dad, so I'll be helping out with Ethan and Ehlana in the afternoon; but I'm also going to be at the Inn for the buffets too. With WinterFest still on in Maple Valley, it'll probably be a comparatively quiet day at the Inn; but I'm looking forward to spending that time with Michael, Rebecca, and their parents. It's also time that I get some sleep so I'll be ready for that and getting back to my usual school night studies and work; so until next time...

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

Sunday, February 23, 2014

We had an uneventful morning from Tai Chi through to lunchtime; I played with Ethan and Ehlana this afternoon except while doing homework with Michael, Tim, and Rowen during Michael's break; and then I had a blast at the Inn with Michael and his family. I got home from there at a bit after eight; did my Magi lesson with Mom; and helped with the full bath and bed routine for the twins before coming up to my room and getting started on some Jacuzzi time multi-tasking. That was four and a half hours ago; my work is done for the night; and I'm past-ready to crash, so...

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

Monday, February 24, 2014

The big news in town today started making the rounds shortly after Blake Sheldon accepted the project manager's job for the new solar and wind energy farm that will begin providing our electricity needs by next year. Groundbreaking at the old quarry we bought for it will start in four weeks; and the farm should be on the grid by late next summer.

Compared to that, and everything we discussed at our family business and future plans meeting tonight; the rest of the day was pretty uneventful. We had a good day at school, though the temperature was back around freezing again; so we didn't spend much time outdoors. After school studying was back at my house again; and then I had dinner with Michael and his family. We had time for a guitar lesson after cleaning the kitchen and a short chat with his parents and Rebecca; but then I went home early so I could catch most of the meeting.

While we aren't directly involved in the Emerson's data center, a big chunk of their business is coming through our family businesses; so that was first on our agenda since it opens this weekend. Data transfers will begin this week – ahead of the grand opening – and we'll continue to offer more work to Owen as he's able to expand his data center over the years.

The new medical center was up next because the ground-breaking for that building begins next Monday. While the medical center is the most important part of that project for us – especially for Uncle Adam, Uncle Mark, and Aunt Deborah; there will be other professional offices in the building too and it's the second-largest building project we're doing in town. If all goes as planned, the building will be up by winter; and open in June twenty-fifteen.

I've already covered summer job plans for some of our favorite college teens before, but we did finalize our plans for that too; and most offers will be made over the next month or so. We also talked a bit about the need to expand that part of our future plans over the next few years – particularly for teens that will work for one of our family businesses in the future.

That brings us back around to Blake Sheldon and the Solar-Wind Farm project. Work on that at the old quarry we bought for the farm will start in four weeks. The timing for that is partly to accommodate our new manager so that he can finish up with his current company and then enjoy March Break with his family before starting his new job. He'll have some homework to do between now and then too; but his job for the first few months will mostly be managerial until it's time to begin installing the wind turbines and solar systems – which is where his expertise will come in very handy. While they're getting more excited all the time about the lab too; the solar-wind farm is still a pet project for Ethan and Ehlana. While they aren't particularly close with Blake's son, Miles; he will be a classmate and friend in the future; and their family will be important to the twins in the future so they're happy to be part of making their lives better and giving Blake a job that he's going to love.

While I'm there, I should mention that Mom needs to be careful with handling these job offers – particularly with non-Magi. In this case, she pretended to just be acting as an intermediary for the investment company that is building the farm as a local contact the company trusts because she does work for them too. Other job offers can be handled by different people; but we'll still need to be careful to keep our family business secret.

I guess we should cover the lab news next. The interior work there is ahead of schedule; the landscaping and exterior finish will start in the next month or so as the weather improves; and the equipment, furniture, and computer systems will be delivered and installed between now and when the lab opens in September. Mom will get much more involved with that starting in May; and will work on the computer systems with Owen – and with Andrew Jennings if he accepts his summer job offer.

The new section of town will have new construction starting soon; including new homes and townhomes. The first apartment building is still on track to open at the end of June. Aunt Leanne will be busy with those rentals and the other homes and apartments that will come open because of those new apartments; but she also expects the building to be nearly full by September; and the other vacancies to be filled over the following year. Some custom homes will be built this year, but we're not directly involved in those projects beyond selling the property to the owners building those homes.

We're getting a new interior design business in town soon; and it'll be opening in time for the Easter holiday weekend. Our family business isn't involved in that; but it is going to be nice to have that option for all of the new homes; and Aunt Leanne is going to hire them to help with her model homes and apartments. She's going to need a new model home too, because Heather and Adam Green will be moving into their new home at the end of March.

Rumor has it that there are going to be some upgrades this year at Quarry Lake; and there are plans to expand the campground to accommodate the new business they expect to have in part from construction workers and their families. The last new business to mention is the Witch Falls Museum. It's going to be close to the falls and statue; promote the town history and legends; and have a little souvenir shop. Once again, the museum will be another draw for tourism, and offer a little more entertainment for everyone. We're not directly involved in that either; but have donated money to the project; and we'll continue to do that if it isn't able to cover expenses with souvenir sales.

That's about it for the near-term of our future plans. There are a few other things happening soon; but Ethan, Ehlana, and I don't want to spoil the surprises for anyone. We had a few things to talk about for medium-term future plans, but again; I'll leave reporting on those details for a bit closer to when they're going to happen. While I always have fun with those meetings, we didn't wrap up until ten-thirty; it was closing in on eleven-thirty by the time our guests had gone home and the twins were tucked in for the night; and then Mom and I still had my Magi lesson to do after that while Dad finished up his homework for the night.

Not getting started on my bedtime studies and computing until twelve-thirty would have meant working until three-thirty or four, but I've cheated a bit; so it's only a bit after two o'clock now. I don't really have anything newsworthy to report from any of those studies, the work, or nightly computer and email checks; so I guess that's pretty much it for tonight.

The next few days should be fairly quiet around here, and though I have a lot of work to get done this week; I'll try to rest up a bit too because I'm going to help Rowen and her parents this weekend at the store and data center – starting after school on Friday night when they'll be getting set up for the open house and sale. I guess that I'm technically getting extra rest tonight after speeding up my work, but the Magi power use offsets that; and I'll only feel slightly more rested than I would have from staying up later but using less power. I am ready for the down time now, though; and hopefully I can do better on the sleep side of my life over the next few nights. We'll see whether that works out for me or not, but I'm out of here for now, so until next time...

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

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

This has been a quiet day as I expected; though there was more than enough fun too. We're keeping busy at school with module assignments that will need to be done either before or after March Break. Band practices aren't quite as interesting right now because we don't have anything that we're working toward right now – no concerts or parades. Some of the senior players will be helping out with music at the church over the Easter weekend; but Michael and I are not involved in that.

With the data center opening on Saturday, we stayed away form the computer store for our study session; and did that at Rowen's house instead. Michael and I didn't have a lot of time to do that with Rowen and Tim; but they didn't seem to be too disappointed to have the house to themselves for a while when we needed to head home to my house to help out with making dinner. They were going to be eating at his house, but his parents usually do late dinners after closing the shop and showroom for the night; so they had time to play – I mean study. ;^)

Michael and I had a tiny bit of play time before he went home tonight; but we had more fun having dinner with my family; doing a Magi lesson with Mom; and then playing with Ethan and Ehlana in my room and the lounge while Mom and Dad worked in the office. We did the bedtime story and snack in the office; Michael and I had some guys or girls-only time with Ethan and Ehlana when we tucked them in for the night; and then we had a half-hour of alone time in the lounge before Michael needed to leave.

That was three hours ago and, as usual, my extra sleep plans didn't work out tonight when I got caught up in some family business work that caught my interest and wouldn't let go until I finished dealing with it. I try not to write too much about world events and politics in my personal journal, but I will mention that we do try to help out where we can; and it was worth staying up later tonight to do that in one of the current Eastern Europe hotspots – even if I'm only helping a tiny bit here and there.

I won't be much help to anyone over the next few days if I don't start getting some sleep now, though; so I'm off to dreamland and hope to spend even more quality time with Michael while I'm there.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

I've officially hit the wall; and need to crash for a while.

I worked; had a little fun here and there; and worked some more. It's only one o'clock, but I'm too tired to do any more anything, so...

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

Thursday, February 27, 2014

I've done a little bit of studying tonight while soaking in my Jacuzzi; but I'm calling it a night early because I'm once again just too tired to keep at it tonight.

While Rowen and I are getting excited about the weekend ahead; most of our fellow students aren't feeling that because there isn't much going on around town to get excited about. The grand opening for the data center is obviously big for her family, and we're going to have fun with that tomorrow night and Saturday; but I'm also excited about having Grandma and Grandpa coming home on Sunday too.

Those are two good reasons for getting some extra down time now, but it's been a long, busy day too. While good morning kisses with Michael and Tai Chi are always a great way to start the day, I am missing having him stay for breakfast now and then because of his morning weight training with Tim and the other football guys. Since he isn't actually getting much 'guy time' even with Tim right now, though, I definitely shouldn't complain. I'll eventually really appreciate the physical benefits too when all that extra work starts to show on Michael; but let's not think about that too much or I won't be getting to sleep anytime soon!

We had fun at school, but the entertainment level kicked up a few notches with our after-school study time at the Inn. Rowen and Tim were both helping out at the data center after the computer store closed for the day, and having dinner on the fly with her family; so they headed out to do that as soon as we finished our assignments while Michael, Rebecca, and I started helping out with the dinnertime prep work in the kitchen. It was another fairly quiet dinner rush this week; so we all had time for real breaks while we took turns eating instead of grabbing food on the fly. Quiet nights are also always more fun too.

I won't say that about game night, because while Michael and I did have fun; our best friends weren't there because they were at the data center instead. They weren't the only regulars skipping out tonight; which might have had something to do with why Mom and Dad won the senior championship tonight. That ended Miranda's two-week reign; but gave Mom two wins in a row now – which had Michael's mother lamenting the fact that she didn't go with a battle of the sexes game night this week.

Having a smaller group allowed us to finish up a bit earlier than usual, so I did my goodnight hugs and kisses with Michael at the Inn and went home with Mom, Dad, and the twins. Mom and I did the bath and bedtime routine with Ethan and Ehlana while Dad got started on his homework; and then Mom did a quick Magi lesson with me before setting me free to hop into my Jacuzzi. I've already mentioned the multi-tasking while in the tub; I've finished getting ready for bed now; and plan to be sleeping a few minutes after finishing this update.

I'm finished.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Friday, February 28, 2014

We've already moved on to a new month, as of about an hour ago; but Rowen and I shared our last kisses of February with our boys shortly before midnight and have been having a nice little girl chat since climbing into bed for the night.

Our teachers didn't celebrate the end of the shortest month of the year – unless you consider two tests and bonus weekend assignments a celebration. That, combined with the ongoing cold that's been harder to take after the few days of warm last week, and a small hit of snow today made for a less-than-exciting school day; but I seem to have a tough time not having fun regardless of how unexciting the work or weather is. That has a lot to do with Michael; and the rest of our day after being set free was a lot of fun – even though we were working a lot of the time too.

Rowen and I were both happy to have Michael and Tim opt to hang out with us at the computer store and help with the work there – and in the data center. Owen and Patricia appreciated the extra hands too; and that's how we managed to get everything ready for both the open house and the computer sale by eight-thirty. We only stopped for a snack break while getting all of that done; but we chose to do that so we could go back to the Emerson's house after we were finished and have a late, pizza and wings dinner while watching a movie in the living room.

A bit surprisingly, Patrick had opted for a sleepover at Scott's house tonight, and that got him out of the work at the store; but they must have really had something better to do to choose that over hanging out with us – especially when Michael and Tim were with us. They haven't been bugging Rowen and I much this year, and Scott is turning eleven in a few weeks; so maybe they're at risk of crossing over early – or at least a lot earlier than I did. That really seems weird when they're only in Grade Five, but I need to remember that they're only a little younger than I was at this time of year in my Grade Six.

Anyway, I'm doing the sleepover with Rowen because we're going to be back at the computer store early to deal with the last details for the open house that couldn't be done tonight – like picking up and setting out the Olde Bakery treats; making coffee; and putting cold drinks on ice. I know that a data center isn't going to be all that interesting to most people in town for the actual services; but I'm also sure there will be a good turnout to see the place – particularly the main computer room that won't normally be open to the public.

While Rowen and I have had fun chatting and surfing the net, we're just about ready to call it a night; so I should wrap this up. I'll add a full report tomorrow about the data center and let you know how the open house and sale goes; but I don't actually have anything particularly important to add to this update, so...

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

March 2014

Saturday, March 1, 2014

While the snowstorm is really just hitting hard now, as I write this; I think we can go with March coming in like a lion. We'll see if that means it'll go out like a lamb at the end of the month or not.

The timing worked out for us today because an early storm would've gotten in the way of the data center open house and computer store sale. The incoming storm actually ended up helping with that because nearly everyone in the area was in town for at least a while to stock up on food and supplies; and that's likely why the turnout for the open house was even better than Patricia could have ever hoped for – along with a best-ever non-holiday, wintertime sale.

We had breakfast on the fly this morning, and then hurried over to the computer store with nearly an hour and a half of work time available before the grand opening and sale started. While Rowen and I mostly worked in the data center with Owen; we started out by helping Patricia with the bakery order pick-up that Nathan had ready for us before the bakery opened. Patricia worked in the store after we'd delivered the food, and Rowen and I set up the trays of snacks; made coffee and tea; and had cold drinks ready to go too. Hot chocolate was available too; but we only had to set up a hot water pot and a basket of hot chocolate packages for that.

Before I get to the actual event; let's take a moment to write about the data center – which is definitely the coolest computer systems in town right now. Most of the guys visiting the data center today had no idea what half of the details they heard about meant; but they'd have been blown away if Owen had unleashed the computing power on gaming instead of for data storage and processing. Adults who've been around long enough to remember the progress of computing and data storage from at least the early eighties were amazed by the talk of Petabytes worth of stacked hard drive racks and Gigabyte data transfer capabilities.

Rowen and I got to hear a lot of 'remember when' stories today – starting with floppy disks. I won't include Grandpa Grant's jokes about his pre-Microsoft, abacus computer; but Grandma Eleanor deserves special mention for pointing out that her 'built-in' memory has more high-definition video capacity than the entire data center could handle. Owen did point out that he actually does have more than twenty-nine years of storage capacity; but Grandma Eleanor just waved that off – and pointed out that her memories included three-dimensional images; sight; sound; smell; taste; and touch.

That's all true, but the data center is still cool; and some of the new toys are going to be nice to have around here – like the back-up generators that'll keep the town WiFi live even if the power goes out during a storm. True, that'll only help as long as the batteries on the phones, computers, and other devices are charged; but then we have our own generator at home so that isn't a problem for us. While our own town usage of the data center will be comparatively small, we'll also get faster service and more capacity for everything from our school network to the town intranet, email, and messaging services. Businesses around town will like the new services too; though how effective that will be still depends a lot on their own computer systems.

Without getting too technical, the most noticeable section of the data center is the racks of stacked hard drives and the cooling systems that keep them from overheating. Yes, there are computers and servers too, all of the high-end communications and networking gear, and even a beautiful big-screen monitor that let's Owen keep track of major system details at a glance; but it takes a lot of three and four Terabyte hard drives to create Petabyte-level capacity. One more thing that Mom really likes about the data center is that it's given Owen the experience he'll need to help with the systems we'll be installing at the lab and medical center this year and next – and those systems are going to be even larger – by quite a bit for the lab in particular.

Okay, that's enough of the tech-type news; and most of you reading this in the future may just be laughing about this the same way the adults were laughing about floppy drives and 'huge' twenty Megabyte hard drives of our not-that distant past. The open house was a blast, and so was the sale next door at the computer store. Rowen and I took turns helping out at both places; and that made the day fly past with non-stop action and entertainment. I was always having fun whether that was while serving drinks and snacks or selling computers and accessories; and it really felt great to be there and see Rowen's parents succeed in this latest step in growing their business.

No, they're not done with that; but I wouldn't want to spoil any surprises for any nearer-future readers with any of those details.

Michael was busy at the Inn today, but he stopped in for visits during his breaks. Tim had morning chores to do at home and at the shop with his father; but he spent the afternoon with Rowen, and helped out too. That's why he and I were invited to have dinner at the Inn with the Emersons after we closed the store for the night, and by then; we were ready to have a little celebration. That would have been even better if Michael had been able to join us, but he was busy helping out in the kitchen; and picked working through the dinner rush so he could be set free early – and then come to my house with Tim, Rowen, and me after we'd finished having dinner.

After not really spending any time with Ethan and Ehlana since Friday morning, I was good with watching a movie with them in the lounge and sharing my cuddle time with Michael so that they could join us and we could catch up on what they'd been doing while I'd been busy with Rowen and her family. I'd missed out on a minor dinner and movie night that only Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and Zack came over for, and while that would have been fun; I didn't mind missing the nearly all-day work around our house – and getting Grandma and Grandpa's house ready for their return home tomorrow.

Michael and I did the bedtime routine with the twins after the movie while Rowen and Tim had some alone time in the lounge, but instead of doing a second movie like we'd originally planned; we ended up going outside and shoveling snow – Michael and I working at our houses; and Rowen and Tim at hers. There wasn't a lot of snow on the ground yet – only an inch or so; but with upwards of six expected overnight, it seemed like a good idea to get started on that tonight instead of just letting it pile up. It's still a safe bet that my morning exercise will not include Tai Chi; and we'll all need to be up early to get the work done before church – assuming we'll have a service tomorrow.

So instead of any couples' cuddle time, we shoveled two driveways and all of the sidewalks and porches at our houses; and then Michael and I wrapped up our night with a hot chocolate and snack break with Mom and Dad in the office before he headed home and I came up to my room to get ready for bed. It's taken me a while to wind down, so I've been sitting in the window alcove; watching the snow fall while doing my nightly computing and listening to music. Mandy went to bed already instead of hanging out with me, and Mom and Dad went to bed shortly after I came upstairs; so it feels as if I'm the last person still stirring here – though Mom's wards around their room strongly suggests that my parents are not sleeping right now either.

I need to get to that – the sleeping – soon, though; so let's wrap this up. We're ready for anything with this storm tonight, and while we're looking forward to having Grandma and Grandpa home tomorrow; it's going to be digging out from this storm that'll keep us busy in the morning – and probably into the afternoon too. Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I will need to do some studying tomorrow afternoon during Michael's break; and then I'll be busy with the mini family reunion for the rest of the day. I won't be helping out at the Inn; but we'll likely be there for one of the buffet dinners; depending on when Grandma and Grandpa get home – assuming they don't have any travel delays because of the weather.

There wasn't any major email news tonight, but I'll do another college teen update tomorrow night if there's anything exciting happening there. Political problems in the Ukraine topped the global news today, and while I don't usually comment much on the news; I mention that because I'm hoping tonight that cooler heads prevail there before the situation escalates and becomes both dangerous and destabilizing to the region. We'll see what happens; but I'm constantly amazed by how often politicians and leaders around the world forget history and make the same stupid mistakes over and over again.

Of course that applies to events going on in quite a few other places around the world right now, which is why I don't try to write about all of that here; so let's move on before I get caught up thinking too much about all of those problems and end up staying awake for another hour or more. Instead of doing that, I'll just end this by mentioning how grateful I am for another awesome day with my friends and family; and that I really am blessed to have such an amazing life. With that said, I'm off to dreamland for what will hopefully be a very happy rendezvous with Michael! Until next time...

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

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Okay, I guess that March didn't end up coming in very much like a lion after all, but we did still get to shovel snow a few times today; and Grandma and Grandpa were delayed by a couple of hours getting home too.

My morning started out dark and early with a pre-breakfast round of shoveling fun with Dad, Jacob, and Michael. That was the main reason for my invitation to have breakfast with Michael and his family; and the extra work was worth it! There was another round of driveway and sidewalk clearing after we ate, and while the work wasn't that tough, it was a lot colder outside; and the second round was a bit uncomfortable while wearing still-damp coats, gloves, and hats. All of that action meant that I had to rush a shower and getting ready for church; so I cheated a bit with that – though not so much that it'd be noticed by anyone as being an impossible accomplishment.

While we didn't get the high-end snowfall in the weather forecast, we did get enough that there wasn't a full house in the sanctuary this morning. As usual, it was mostly farm families that were staying at home to take care of animals and deal with the problems that bad weather always caused. Some seniors stayed home too rather than venturing out into the snow; and the deep cold kept most of the youngest infants at home with one or more family members too. That probably had something to do with why Pastor John kept the service short today – plus we were still getting some snow; and he knew that we were all in for more work until the weather front moved on.

That was certainly true for Michael and me. We shoveled snow at the Inn after getting there from the church; and I helped out with some lunch prep work after that before heading home to help Mom and Dad while Michael stayed at the Inn. Dad had already had the driveway more than half-done by then, so I helped him finish that work before going inside to get changed and have lunch. Form there, we were off to Grandma and Grandpa's house to shovel some more snow. We did that; turned the heat up to normal so the house would be comfortable when they got home; topped up the wood and kindling in case they needed it for the fireplace; and then we headed home again in time for me to meet up with Michael, Rowen, and Tim for our afternoon study session during Michael's break from the Inn.

Dad needed to get to work in the office by then, so Ethan and Ehlana came up to the lounge with us and watched a movie while we studied – though they chatted with us more than they actually watched the show. We knew by then that Grandma and Grandpa were delayed, but the only change to our plans was that I spent that extra couple of hours playing with Ethan and Ehlana after Michael needed to get back to the Inn and Rowen and Tim moved on; mostly so that Mom and Dad could both work in the office then and take the evening off instead. Grandma and Grandpa got home at a bit after six; and we all met them at their house to help with unloading the van and hauling luggage up to their bedroom. 'All of us' didn't include Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and Zack; but that was only because Aunt Leanne nursed Zack before meeting us at the Inn for the late buffet. Since we did get to have that pre-dinner time with our grandparents, Ethan, Ehlana, and I sat at the table next to the rest of our family; giving Grandma and Grandpa time to talk with their kids and take turns cuddling with Zack while he mostly napped – once the novelty of seeing his grandparents again wore off. Miranda let Michael and Rebecca join us to eat when they could take a break; timing that for when I was ready to fill a second plate at the buffet tables.

While I'm thinking about that, I occasionally get teased about my capacity to inhale food, and there are more than a few girls – and women – around here who are at least a little jealous that I can do that without the normal side-effects. I obviously can't explain that to most of them, but in addition to my hyper-metabolism, my body does self-heal; I'm very active; and using my Magi gifts has a measurable impact too. There are actually some decent studies on that in the archives if you're interested; including an optimal dietary plan that can be followed when extended Magi power use is necessary. That's quite a few centuries out of date considering the food options now; but the basics are sound enough. The message I'm trying to convey, though, is that you shouldn't try to compete with my dietary needs at home unless you have the same physical needs that I do.

I need to move this along because it's heading toward three o'clock now and I need to get some down time. Dinner was fun, but that, combined with a visit with Grandma and Grandpa at our house after that until it was time for Ethan and Ehlana to go to bed meant that I didn't get started on my usual school night lessons and studying until nearly eleven o'clock. That didn't give us nearly enough time to hear very many of Grandpa's travel stories; but the cuddle time was good; and Zack came to life long enough to help with the entertainment before and after Aunt Leanne nursed him again.

Grandma and Grandpa did the bedtime story with Ethan and Ehlana; tucked them in for the night; and then went home with Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne to do the same with Zack before going home to get some sleep. Yes, they were exhausted by then, but stayed up late on purpose to try and help them get adjusted to home time. Once we'd seen them out with extra hugs and kisses, Mom did my Magi lesson with me while Dad cleaned up and made sure that he had everything ready for work in the morning. Since it was already getting late by then, Mom kept my lesson fairly short; and I was in my room by eleven-thirty.

I was in need of some Jacuzzi time by then, so I multi-tasked the language studies with a long soak in the tub. Doing my hair required taking a break from the work; but then I got right back to it again once I was tucked into bed with Mandy for the night. The archive homework took an hour; I followed that up with some family business work; and then wrapped up with my usual nightly computer checks. The main email news from my favorite college teens is that they're all getting ready for their upcoming mid-term exams. That's not as big of a deal as it was during the two rounds of exams in their first semester because they do have the experience now; but there is still some stress anyway.

While they're focused on exams, though, I'm more excited about getting to see Violet, Dillon, Christina, and Josiah when they're home for March Break. I wish that Jake and Stephanie could come home too; but I'm sure they'll have fun with their week off – even if they will be studying while spending that time together somewhere in New York. Mom's working on some plans for March Break that will include some play time for me with Dawn and Jillian; but that hasn't been finalized yet – other than that they'll be coming here for a few days; and while Violet and Dillon are here too. I'll keep you posted on that as I get more information – or, since you're reading this in my future; you could always jump ahead a couple of weeks of journal entries if you can't wait to find out! ;^)

Anyway, I guess all that's left for the update tonight is a quick look at the week ahead. Groundbreaking is supposed to start on the medical center building tomorrow, but that might be delayed a bit because of the snow and cold. Tomorrow is also the third anniversary of the day Rowen and I found out about each other when she fell on the stairs by the falls. Too bad we won't have a nice warm day like that again tomorrow instead of the deep freeze that'll be with us for at least another couple of days.

The only big family event this week is Uncle Adam's thirtieth birthday on Friday; and that won't affect me very much because Aunt Leanne is taking him to Crystal Springs for a five-star sleepover. Zack will be with us overnight, and we're going to do a birthday breakfast on Friday morning; but that's about it for our end of things. I'm sure that Aunt Leanne would have liked to do a full weekend away; but had to juggle that with wanting to spend time with Zack too. So other than the Friday night babysitting, there isn't anything major planned for the weekend; and this could end up being a fairly quiet week.

With March Break coming up in just two weeks, that's probably a good thing; since I definitely want to be rested up and ready to have some fun while we're getting that week away from school! I won't be getting much rest toward that goal tonight, but that's all I have for now; and it's past-time to get what sleep I can now, so...

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

Monday, March 3, 2014

The big news around town today was supposed to be the groundbreaking for the new medical center and professional offices building; but that's been delayed for a couple of days. That's due more to the cold than the snow; though there was some work done on-site today anyway – clearing snow and deliveries of equipment and supplies.

As I mentioned yesterday, Rowen and I are celebrating the third anniversary of finding out about each other being Magi. We couldn't actually do that publicly, but it did make the day just a little more fun for us; and having a few warm-hearted moments were very welcome on such a cold day!

Our after-school plans were unrelated to the anniversary, but Rowen and I were both happy to be invited to have dinner with our boyfriends at Michael's house; and we did our after-school studying there too – mostly so we wouldn't have to go out into the cold any more than needed. I don't know if Mom talked about dinner plans with Miranda earlier today or not, but they may have done that; because it probably isn't a coincidence that my grandparents were spending the evening with Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and Zack tonight; and will be with us tomorrow night – when I'm available to be home too.

I hope they've had as much fun tonight as I have. Rebecca was just a little bit wistful tonight to be the odd girl out; but Rowen and I helped to keep her entertained while we all studied; during dinner; and while we were hanging out together during the rest of the evening. It's been a while since I've written about what's going on in her life; so let's do a little update now. Jenny is still spending more time with Garth and her new football and cheerleader friends than with Rebecca; though she has also tried to do a little matchmaking for her best friend too. Rebecca only has a problem with that because the boys Jenny has picked for her are Jenny's type; not Rebecca's. Yes, they really are best friends forever, but in this one area; Jenny is just a bit clueless about how Rebecca feels – or what she wants in a boyfriend. It's easy enough for me to figure out, because she wants the exact same thing that I do – and already have with Michael.

While that hasn't happened yet, Rebecca is still at the center of a minor gossip topic around school; and speculation continues about the identity of the Valentine's Day secret admirer who left the gift for her. That's been fun for me because nobody has even suggested the guy who actually did give her that gift as a possibility; and he's definitely not saying anything. Thanks to Jenny, there's a bit of teen weird to go with that, and only because one of the guys she's tried to get Rebecca hooked up with has been playing games when she asked him about whether he was the secret admirer. Sure, he denied it, so he wasn't lying; but you know how that can go where what's being implied isn't in the words of the answer – and in this case; that's where the lie has been. That kind of thing might work for Jenny and some of the other girls; but Rebecca knows it for what it is; and isn't interested in playing those kinds of games.

Finally, while Rebecca continues to have less time hanging out with Jenny, isn't involved with anyone, and hasn't really fit in with Jenny's new circle of mostly-older teen friends; she has had time to do other things that she does like to do. Her interest and talent for playing music isn't at the same level as it is for the guys in her family, but she does love music; and listens to it a lot when she's home or at the Inn. She also reads a lot; likes home crafts – sewing, knitting, and crocheting; and is getting involved in other activities at school – some court sports and the yearbook and student newsletter group. She's not playing on any school teams this year, but I could see her making the volleyball and basketball teams next year if she wants to do that.

What all of that boils down to is that Rebecca is finding her own way while Jenny is busy with other friends; and she is mostly very happy. The even better news for her is that this is going to be a very special year for her; and happy is just the beginning! No, I won't add any details, but since you're reading this in the future; you'll get to that part of her story much sooner than I will in my 'now'.

Moving along, we had a five-teen crew for the kitchen clean-up; Michael and I had company for my guitar lesson; and then Rowen and Tim joined us to practice for our music class and the new music that three of us are learning for band. The boys played some video games after that in the living room while Miranda, Rebecca, Rowen, and I mostly chatted; and then it was time for me to get home far sooner than I would have liked. Rowen and Tim left then too and walked me home on their way to Rowen's house, but it was bitterly cold out still; and we didn't hang around and chat at all before I hurried inside for the night.

Mom already had Ethan and Ehlana ready for bed by then; so I helped with tucking them in and having little chats with each of them in their rooms; and then Mom did a long Healing lesson with me. I followed that up with three hours of studying and family business work while cuddled in bed with Mandy; and now I'm past-ready for some down time. There wasn't really anything newsworthy to report from any of that work or my nightly computer checks; so that's it for now, and until next time...

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

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

The highlight of my day was the time I got to spend with Grandma and Grandpa tonight; and I especially loved getting to hear a lot of travel stories from their weeks in India, Pakistan, and southern Europe. Grandpa really knows how to tell those stories, and even the often-annoying travel issues seem to be little adventures from his perspective.

Nothing particularly exciting happened at school today – at least compared to our dinner and evening entertainment. It was still cold first thing this morning when Michael came over for Tai Chi, but warmed up above freezing by this afternoon; and that allowed the construction crews to at least do a bit of work at the new medical center site this afternoon. They'll be able to do more work through the rest of the week if the weather cooperates, and it is supposed to get a bit warmer every day through the rest of the week.

That means that I should probably get Ethan and Ehlana out for a little sledding before the snow from last weekend disappears, but I don't know if we'll have time for that with everything else we have going on right now. They are unofficial collegians now; and that's keeping them fairly busy as they're already closing in on finishing the first semester of their freshman year. Since today was also a KidZone play day for them too, it seems funny to think about that and their college work; and that's something that they do that I didn't when I was their age – spend time at a daycare. Yes, my circumstances were different, and not making those kinds of attachments when Mom and I often needed to run again without notice was probably better for me; but I'm honestly not sure which I would have preferred if I had been allowed the choice. Ethan and Ehlana love spending time with their friends, but they also sometimes get frustrated when that gets in the way of their 'real' education.

They didn't have a problem with taking the night off from their studies to spend the time with Grandma and Grandpa; and they also happily made sure that our grandparents started catching up on the hugs, kisses, and cuddles they'd all missed out on while they were away. I didn't get in on that very much by comparison, but then that's changing anyway now that I'm a teen – and I did have Michael there to cuddle with instead while we sat in the living room and visited for a couple of hours after dinner.

Grandma and Grandpa are keeping their own travel journals now, so I won't second-hand their stories here, but if you're interested in the work they're doing for the family business; check out that section of the archives. The stories were just the entertainment anyway, and what really mattered was spending the time together and feeling the strong sense of family and love in the house. I don't ever take that for granted for even a moment; but I should mention it here in my journal more often. Sometimes I get so caught up in writing about the little things that I don't mention the most important things in my life – the love I share with my family and friends. That's mostly because that isn't 'news' – it just is; and as much a part of my life now as breathing or eating.

Speaking of eating, I may need to cut back on that for a day or two. This was my third day in a row for a major meal, and even my metabolism has needed to kick into high gear to keep up. While the Sunday night buffet and another amazing dinner at Michael's house last night contributed to that; it was the special, Shrove Tuesday, Olde Bakery treats combined with our pancake dinner that helped me to hit tilt tonight. While this isn't exactly a major event in Witch Falls, lots of families do make it a Pancake Day; and the Olde Bakery was experimenting with a delicious Paczki recipe that they should definitely make an annual event.

I skipped over band practice and our study session at the computer store, but it was a fairly short band practice without anything going on worth mentioning; and our study time wrapped up early too so that Michael and I could get home to help Mom with the pre-dinner work. While whipping up a large batch of pancakes wasn't much work; there were a half-dozen sides to go with the fluffy entree; and Michael and I were on the prep line for all of that – along with setting the dining room table too. We were also on the clean-up crew of two after dinner – though that was my choice; and I drafted Michael.

He seemed happy enough to work for hugs and kisses; so don't feel too sorry for him!

The rest of the evening was all fun and entertainment – at least until Grandma, Grandpa, and Michael went home after Ethan and Ehlana were tucked in for the night. Then it was time for me to get to work; starting with my Magi lesson with Mom. I've followed that up with another three hours and change of work while tucked into bed and cuddling with Mandy; and that's all added up to another late night for me. I'll try to catch up on a little sleep tomorrow night, but don't worry – I won't be giving up any of my responsibilities for Lent just for the chance to get more rest. ;^)

I won't be giving up any alone time with Michael either, though we didn't get to have any of that tonight; and who knows how many opportunities we'll even have for that between now and Easter. It's not looking good for that over the next few days; but I still have some hope for the weekend!

It is really late, and spending a little time dreaming about Michael and me seems like a much better idea right now than doing any more work with my computer; so that's all I have for now, and I'm out of here.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Ash Wednesday – the first day of Lent.

As I mentioned yesterday with Shrove Tuesday; Lent is not generally observed here in Witch Falls; though some people do recognize the religious tradition. It was probably the jokes in my journal last night about what I wasn't going to give up for Lent that had me thinking more about Lent today. The fact that we don't observe Lent at our church may seem strange to some when we have such a strong and closely-knit congregation, but I'll only point out that Lent is a church tradition in certain denominations; which is quite different from biblical observations that are observed by most Christian communities.

That doesn't mean that I can't appreciate those customs and traditions, because I can – and have studied them the same as I have thoroughly studied most major world religions. Mom and I have attended churches that do observe Lent; but even then those congregations weren't following anything near to the strictest guidelines for fasting or the other historical requirements. My perspective on religious traditions such as Lent are admittedly colored by my 'higher plane' relationship with God and a deeply rooted religious education; and I'll take this opportunity to include a few thoughts about that here.

Let's begin that with something that may not seem obvious to many: God loves us; is very patient and forgiving! Yes, there are things that he wants from us – our love being among the most important; but He loves us regardless of how we choose to live our lives. Our relationship with Him doesn't need to be complicated or even particularly difficult – though that doesn't mean that what's expected of us won't be challenging or even have great personal cost. The Magi of the Light know this better than most, but some members of our little community here understand that better than others. For Mom, that's very personal; while for families like the Palmers, it's a very important part of their family history.

I'm not going to write a long sermon here when others are far better suited to offer a Magi perspective of faith and religion; but I will suggest that everyone just needs to lighten up! God wants us to be happy and have joy-filled lives. Filling our lives with love and happiness will help us through the tasks and trials we'll each face in our lives – and that's true regardless of how much time we spend on this part of our spiritual journey. That's going to be especially true in the coming years and decades as we approach this next ascension of the light; and I plan on filling my life with as much love and joy as I can!

The love is something that I feel all of the time now, but I'll have to admit that my day wasn't exactly filled to overflowing with non-stop fun today – I was too busy with the work both at school and my part-time job. It's not that I don't ever find my chores, studies, and family-business responsibilities enjoyable or even fun sometimes; it's just that none of that is on the same level as play time of any kind with my family and friends – like we had on Monday and Tuesday night. There wasn't even as much fun as usual around school today, though that had less to do with me personally as it did with the stress some of my friends were feeling while dealing with tests and impending projects and major assignment deadlines looming ever-closer ahead of March Break.

Our after-school study session in the conference room at Landry's was a fun exception to the day; but even that hour or so of entertainment was fit in around getting our homework done before we each needed to get to our part-time jobs. I walked with Michael to the Inn on my way home and stopped in for some hugs and kisses with his parents and Rebecca; but then it was almost all work for me for the rest of the night – except for breaks at dinnertime and when Ethan and Ehlana went to bed for the night. I worked on the family business until that second break; and have been doing my usual bedtime studies and nightly computing since coming up to my room after doing my Magi lesson with Mom.

As seems to happen way too often, my thoughts about having an early bedtime didn't work out; though I will manage to be off to sleep a bit earlier than I managed over the past few nights. While I got a lot of work done tonight, there really isn't anything newsworthy to write about here; and I won't bore you with the technical details for any of my family business issues. I love everything we're doing with our charities and businesses, but let's be honest – accounting and finance can be incredibly boring too!

I've mentioned that here in my journals before too, so that isn't news either; and I should just wrap this up and get on to the nap part of my night. With game night at the Inn and Uncle Adam's birthday ahead, the fun level is definitely going to head higher for the next couple of days; and I want to be ready to enjoy all of that with my family and our friends.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Thursday, March 6, 2014

We're going to be up extra early tomorrow morning so that we can get over to Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne's house in time to help with making his special birthday breakfast; so this is going to be one of those short updates.

To that end, I'm going to skip over the non-news from this morning and my school day; since there really wasn't much going on other than the normal school day action. You could say that about our after school study time at the Inn too; though having Olde Bakery snacks should never be considered 'ordinary'; and Miranda always has Olde Bakery treats for us on Thursdays. Working in the kitchen was fairly quiet again tonight; but there won't be many more nights like that now that we're just about a week away from the start of March Break. Business will pick up nearly everywhere in town as we move into spring; and it will be a little busier every year now as our future plans come together.

Rebecca and I had fun hanging out together tonight; and I spent more time with her than Michael while we were in the kitchen because he was helping out more with the dishes than the prep work. We mostly talked about the latest teen news and plans for the coming weekend and March Break; but what we talked about wasn't as important to me as the friendship time. The social gulf between Grade Eight and Nine still intrudes regularly when we're at school, and spending time together doesn't seem to work out for us except when I'm hanging out with Michael at the Inn or their house; so those moments are something that I'm very grateful for.

While it was a quiet dinner sitting tonight, we had a pretty good turn-out for game night – possibly because some people will be too busy getting ready for March Break plans to come to game night. Michael and I had Ethan and Ehlana with us for most of the evening; so the four of us had a lot of fun – and didn't do very well in the competition. Michael and I get compared to his parents when we don't do very well at game night, and I guess it might look like we're a lot the same because Michael's personality is so much like his father's; but he is as competitive as I am – even if he doesn't show it the same way that Miranda or I do. One thing that we do both seem to have in common with his father, though, is that we can also appreciate the value of winning from the perspective of having the most fun. I'd still rather win the competition too; but I've never been disappointed when we haven't either.

Maybe I should try applying that philosophy to my baseball games next season; but I probably won't be able to do that.

That's gone off-track a bit, and I'm not exactly making this a short update; so let's move this along.

I stayed after the gaming was over to help with the clean-up and breakfast set-up; and then I walked home with Michael and his family. Warmer weather today is relative to the recent deep freeze, but that doesn't mean it was warm out tonight; and our goodnight hugs and kisses were fairly short before I continued on to my house and Michael went followed his parents and sister into their place. Mom and Dad had the twins ready for their bedtime story and snack by the time I got home; so we did that together before getting Ethan and Ehlana tucked in for the night and moving on to my Magi lesson.

Mom kept that fairly short; I combined the bit of work and nightly computing with a bit of Jacuzzi time; and only had this and my email to take care of after getting into bed with Mandy. I've skipped most of my studying, and only took care of a couple of little jobs for the family business that I didn't want to leave undone; but getting the extra sleep is more important tonight. There won't be much 'extra' rest if I don't get to it soon, though, so until next time...

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

Friday, March 7, 2014

Happy 30th Birthday, Uncle Adam!

Okay, I have to start by admitting that I can't help but feel a bit strange about the fact that my Uncle would have still been a teenager when I was born – about the same age as Dad was when Violet was born. The age difference isn't a big deal at all, but it seems to be more noticeable this year with him joining the thirtysomething club just a week and a half ahead of Mom's thirty-sixth birthday.

Sorry, Mom, but then this won't be read by anyone for quite a while; and most people who don't actually know your age would think you were easily under thirty anyway. I'd suggest that not having the stress of being on the run and hiding me, along with sharing our lives with our new family and friends has a lot to do with that – unless you've been experimenting with slowing down the process with time-phases. Aging moments per night instead of hours would add up after a while!

Just as a little aside, I have thought about that a bit before, and I have a little theory that I'm looking into for time phases. I've never read anything in the archives suggesting that using time phase in 'hyper' mode significantly affects a Magi Master's life expectancy, though with all of the other factors; it might not even be easy to quantify it anyway. I do, however, know from experience that it can, in fact, age you – as I noticed when I was using it a lot; and didn't want to have my own development through puberty affected from doing that. Since that is the case, I'm wondering if the 'slow-down' time phase – if used regularly – could significantly increase life-expectancy; and by an exponential value.

For instance, if you 'saved' six hours a night, that'd suggest that you'd only age nine months for every year that you did that every day. While that may actually be the case, I'm considering the possibility that there might be Magi power factors that influence the actual effects on the body that are less-obvious than what can be seen in the short-term. I haven't even come close to working it all out yet, but it is interesting to think about what might be possible for the life expectancy of Magi Masters – and for anyone we included in that kind of nightly time-phase. An extra twenty-five years would be awesome; but just imagine if it was even more!

Okay, maybe Uncle Adam will think those ideas are strange on the day that he's a decade older than he was yesterday, but then if it could be something that all Magi could learn to do and actually have those effects on us; it'd be an awesome birthday present!

While he didn't have anything like that in the little stack of gifts he had to open during his birthday breakfast; he did like the gifts that Aunt Leanne, Zack, and the rest of us picked out for him. It was a crazy morning for those of us involved in the work on each side of that special little meal, and I was ready for a break by the time Rowen came over to get me on her way to school; but the birthday fun was worth all of the running around and work. We skipped Tai Chi this morning; hauled gifts and food over to Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne's house after quickly getting ready for the day; and then got to work on making breakfast for all of the guests Aunt Leanne had invited.

That guest list included all local family members, and while we had some work crew help from Uncle Mark, Aunt Grace, Grandma, and Grandpa; everyone else came over in time to eat; and only a few people could stay to help with the clean-up when it was time to either go to school or work for the day for everyone else. Since I've either missed dinner and a movie night or spent more of them in the lounge with the 'kids' than hanging out with the adults; my favorite part of the morning was simply getting to spend that time with some of my favorite grown-ups. One good thing about a birthday breakfast – at least for Uncle Adam – was that the traditional roasting was kept fairly mild today; since there just wasn't time to cover thirty years worth of stories and jokes.

All of that fun has had me wishing for an early spring so that we can get back to having more family picnics and meals together like we always do during the summer months. I haven't even been over to Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace's house for a visit lately – and that isn't just because we've all been busy. Mostly, it's just the logistical fact that I'd need to walk all the way around to the new section of town to see them that keeps me from stopping in more often. It's easier to pop in and see Uncle Mark at the clinic; and I see Aunt Grace more often at our house or with Aunt Leanne. The funny part of having those thoughts today is that we've had nearly spring-like weather today, and it wouldn't take much more of that to make the back yard short cut to Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace's home an option without trudging through snow and across patches of ice – though there'd still be issues with wet and soft for a while.

I don't really want to spend a lot of time discussing that sort of thing, though I'm not really in any hurry tonight either because I'm staying awake until Zack's next feeding before going to sleep so that Mom and Dad can nap now and take care of Zack later. Let's instead move on with the rest of the news update.

Having the temperature climb into the fifties helped the general mood around the school; and had pretty much everyone outside at lunchtime to enjoy the comparative warm. There were a lot of kids and teen outdoors after school too – including Michael, Tim, Rowen, and me. Mom had custody of Zack by then, so we took Ethan and Ehlana with us and split our time between the park and wandering around town. Biking had been briefly considered until we decided that getting our bikes and the trailer ready to go would take too much of our limited play time.

We weren't doing a dinner and a movie night this week, and though Rowen and Tim were going to hang out with us again after dinner; they went to his house to eat while Michael and I were put to work helping Mom with making dinner and taking care of Ethan, Ehlana, and Zack. I guess that actually pretty much describes our entire evening at home – working and taking care of two toddlers and a baby. We did an easy-cook dinner; juggled eating with feeding Zack a bottle when he decided that he was hungry at the same time our food was about to hit the table. Michael and I were the clean-up crew of two while we waited for Tim and Rowen to come over again; and then we headed up to the lounge for some toddler-rated video gaming.

Rowen, Ehlana, and I mostly watched that, and 'talked' together while the four boys did most of the gaming. Zack couldn't exactly say anything at the time, but he really loved being included for that and cuddling with Michael while they competed against Tim and Ethan. The video gaming ended with Zack's next feeding, and we started to watch 'Frozen' while he had his bottle; Ehlana cuddled with Rowen and Tim; and Michael and I had Ethan and Zack with us.

Those hours of fun and games didn't leave us with any teen time, but I wouldn't have traded that time with my brother, sister, and cousin – no matter how much I would have liked to have some alone time with Michael too. I'm sure having some alone time was what Rowen and Tim were thinking about when they headed over to her house when it was time to tuck Ethan and Ehlana in for the night after the movie. Mom and Dad caught part of the show with us, and then Michael and I helped with all three kids after Rowen and Tim left. Getting the twins settled down took a while, and that was about the time that Zack decided it was time to party for a while after napping through a lot of the movie; so Michael and I entertained him for a while and Mom and Dad went to bed too. Michael went home shortly before midnight; and Zack has been napping again for an hour and a half or so.

I've done some family business work and a bit of language study while waiting for him to wake and want his next bottle; but I'm just listening to music videos now while doing my usual nightly computing – including checking out some YouTube video clips of songs from Frozen. When I get some time to do it, I'm going to learn to play 'Let It Go' on my keyboard; but didn't want to do that tonight and risk waking Zack and getting him too fired up. He's busy enough without any extra motivation!

There isn't really anything else to write about for tonight. We have a work day around here booked for tomorrow, and we'll be watching Zack until Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne get home from their five-star sleepover; so it's going to be a busy day. I'm hoping that Michael and I will get some alone time after he's done work tomorrow night; but we'll see how that goes. For now, I'm just going to move on with some more surfing on the net until Zack wakes up; and then I'll feed him and hope that we can both get off to sleep without the need to tire him out again.

That thought took me somewhere else right away, but I don't want to think about what my aunt and uncle might be doing tonight that doesn't include sleeping; and now I really need to wrap this up and find something else to do for a distraction.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Saturday, March 8, 2014

I worked pretty much all day until finishing the post-dinner clean-up with Dad; had a little play time with Ethan and Ehlana between then and when Michael came over; and then promptly fell asleep on him – literally – after we tucked my brother and sister into their beds for the night.

So we got to have that alone time; but I slept for almost all of it while Michael had to settle for cuddling with me and watching the movie we hadn't actually planned on watching at all when we picked it out.

I'm awake now because of that nap, though I don't plan on staying awake too much longer. Michael went home at a bit after eleven when Mom and Dad checked in on us on their way to bed and found me out cold. The movie was just ending then anyway, so Michael decided to leave, and even though they sent me to bed with hugs and kisses instead of letting me see Michael out; I wasn't able to get right back to sleep after getting changed and climbing into bed with Mandy.

That's why I've been doing my usual nightly computing since then and listening to some music while waiting to be tired enough to rest again. It would be fairer to admit that I'm annoyed with myself for falling asleep and missing out on that alone time opportunity with Michael – especially since that might have been the only chance we'll have for that kind of play time until next weekend. Let's not think about that too much, and I'll just write about the rest of the action today.

Mom and Dad skipped Tai Chi this morning and took care of Zack instead while Michael and I exercised with Ethan and Ehlana. I didn't end up getting very much sleep last night; and that was a big part of why I was so tired tonight. Michael stayed for breakfast, but then he went home to his own morning chores while Dad and I got to work around our house and yard and Mom took care of Zack and the twins.

She got some help by mid-morning from Grandma and Grandpa when they took Zack for the rest of the day until Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne got home from their city sleepover; and then she joined in to help with the work for the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon. While we had a lot of housework to do that included getting guest bedrooms ready for March Break; Dad and I did a fair bit of work outdoors too. For me, the highlights of those chores were getting some canoes ready in case the weather cooperates and we can use them over March Break; and tuning up some bikes and the bike trailer so we can start using them again too.

It wasn't very much above freezing today, but since the temperature could climb into the sixties over the next few days; biking is definitely a possibility this week – and hopefully while we're on our spring holiday too.

There were less-exciting jobs too today. Washing the truck and minivan when it's cold out isn't nearly as much fun as it can be in July or August; but they were both way overdue for a good cleaning and it was warm enough that they could dry without worrying about water freezing the doors, locks, or windows. We cleaned up some downed tree branches in the back yard; took care of a little building repair to the storage barn; and dealt with a dozen other little chores during the three hours or so we spent outdoors. Some of the work inside was more fun because we had a bit of Magi play time with Ethan and Ehlana. Cleaning Violet's room with Telekinesis was entertaining; and the twins especially loved sending a line of floating clothes from the laundry room up to their bedrooms; folding them in mid-air; and then placing everything neatly into drawers or on hangers in their closets.

Our lunch and dinner meals were both quick and easy, but hot and filling too; and there were Olde Bakery desserts for both of those work breaks. My play time after dinner with Ethan and Ehlana included some music play time in my room; and a little Magi-powered tag and hide-and-seek. Those are games we're really just experimenting with; but Ethan and Ehlana have fun even though they can't really do anything that actually works to either hide from me or keep away when we play tag.

Yes, I could play along like normal teens and adults do when playing games like that with toddlers; but that kind of thing doesn't work with my brother and sister the way it does with other toddlers. It isn't as though they can't do anything to counter my own abilities; and the practice does help to strengthen their talents – even if they can't do things like time phasing or phase-shifting transmutations. I have to be very fast to tag them when they use air shields; and we have a few extra rules for hide and seek to keep it from being too easy for me to find them. Those games also help to tire them out; which is why they were ready to go to bed by not long after Michael came over after finishing up at the Inn.

Yes, that probably contributed to why I fell asleep on Michael too; but I was already really tired by then anyway. I'm pretty much ready to nap again now too, and don't have any other news to report for today; so I guess that's it for tonight and it's time to head back to sleep. Until next time...

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

Sunday, March 9, 2014

In hindsight, maybe it was a good thing that I fell asleep early last night; if only because that put me in much better shape than some of the other teens and adults around here to deal with the 'spring forward' time change today. I definitely wasn't thinking about it last night, but the extra rest came in very handy when it was time for Tai Chi this morning at what felt like an hour earlier than usual thanks to 'losing' that hour earlier this morning.

There's no doubt that the most entertaining moments of our morning came from hearing stories from our friends and neighbors about how time literally got away from them this morning and messed up their usual routines thanks to sleeping in or even forgetting about the time change. That probably even explained why a few members of our congregation didn't make it to church this morning; and certainly had something to do with why others looked very tired, harried, or both. Some legitimate problems were understandable, and Aunt Leanne was dealing with one of those issues thanks to the time change messing up Zack's feeding schedule. Okay, it was the time that was an hour off, not Zack; but the result was that he rather vocally let her know that he was ready for his next meal at about the same time that Pastor John was getting his sermon started.

While Daylight Savings Time was the top news story at church this morning, it was the half-decent weather that had the biggest impact on our afternoon activities. Dad had finished most of his weekend homework last night, so he and Mom took the afternoon off to play with Ethan, Ehlana, and me. Rowen, Tim, and Michael joined us for parts of that; and we split up our time between some park play, biking, and an afternoon snack break picnic by the falls. My outdoor play time ended when Michael and I headed for the Inn to help out with the buffet rush; but we really only traded one type of entertainment for another as we had fun for a few hours with his family and everyone else working in the kitchen.

The time change affected that a bit too – at least for the first buffet sitting. We eventually still had a full house, but it took a while before that happened; and then that delayed the second sitting by a half-hour or more as the turnover got backed up a bit. I worked with Michael and Rebecca until pretty much all of the food was cooked for the night, and then headed home early so that I could get my usual school night studies and work done without staying up half the night.

Mom, Dad, and the twins had gone to dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house – along with Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and Zack – but they were home by the time I got there. They were all in the office, and Ethan and Ehlana were working on college assignments while Mom and Dad were dealing with some family business and future plans work. Mom took a break to do my Magi lesson then; we followed that up with a little family business update from my end of the business; and then I was set free to come up to my room while she and Dad took care of getting the twins bathed and into bed for the night.

I needed some Jacuzzi time after our play afternoon and working at the Inn, so I did that first; and multi-tasked my archive homework while soaking in the tub. The rest of my studies and work didn't include any particularly interesting news; but the college teen and family email tonight was often entertaining and included some important information.

While mid-term exams had the attention of all of my favorite college teens this past weekend; they're also getting excited about their upcoming Spring Breaks – though not all of them have the same week off; and only Violet, Dillon, Christina, and Josiah will be home in Witch Falls for part of the week while we're off from school too. The news about that included the decision that both teen couples were spending the first half of their week off 'away' with Violet's and Christina's families respectively; and then they'll be 'home' for the second half of the week. Violet and Dillon are going to bring Dawn and Jillian with them from Woodvale; so Rowen and I will need to make some special plans to entertain my cousin and her best friend while they're here. That could definitely cut into the boyfriend time for us, but for all I know; Dawn and Jillian will end up attracting as much attention from the guys their age as Chris and Martin have been doing with the girls here for the past few years.

Speaking of them, they aren't coming to see us on March Break because they'd rather stay home and hang out with their friends – and girlfriends. I wonder if we're getting to the point yet where either of them will be bringing girlfriends 'home' to meet the family yet? I know that it's a lot different having them 'meet' Michael last summer, and that really shouldn't be any different for me meeting my cousins' girlfriends or boyfriends; but it's still going to seem strange to me anyway whenever that does start happening.

While our plans for March Break are coming together now, we don't actually have much going on for this week. I'll have a busy week at school as we do extra testing ahead of the holiday and some projects are due; but we don't have any special events or plans between now and when we're set free from school for a week on Friday. One thing I am going to do differently, though, is take it easy on my late-night work and studies. I've been pushing too hard; and need to back off for a while. That's not only because I want to be ready to enjoy the holiday with my friends and family – I can't keep staying up and working until two or three o'clock so many nights a week all of the time. I'm going to actually need to do that often enough over the next decade or two anyway; so I think it's time to cut back a bit when I don't absolutely need to be going twenty or more hours a day.

As always, we'll see whether those good intentions actually work out for me, since something always seems to come up that interferes with those work-less plans; but I'll hope for the best. For tonight, at least, I will be sleeping before midnight, and that'll be two nights in a row; so that's at least a good start – even if my early down time yesterday was unintentional. It doesn't feel that late now, but it's also going to feel very early when we need to get up in the morning even with the extra sleep; so that's all I have for tonight and I'm out of here.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Monday, March 10, 2014

Happy 15th Birthday, Martin!

My condolences to Uncle Rick and Aunt Melissa as they deal with two teenage boys with driver's licenses! The good news is that they still have a year to go before Martin will be able to drive on his own too; but having Chris there already is probably enough of a challenge for them anyway.

I'm sure that Martin has had a good day, but his birthday didn't affect us here at home except for a short phone call this morning before breakfast that I'm not sure he was awake enough for to remember those early birthday wishes. For us, that call came between Tai Chi and breakfast; but I wasn't surprised to find out that my two cousins weren't adjusting very well to the time change – Aunt Melissa had a tough time getting them moving every morning; and especially on school days.

While we weren't doing any birthday celebrations or anything else special today, the countdown to March Break is on now; and having the temperature climb into the high-sixties helped to make this a really good day for pretty much every kid and teen in Witch Falls. Getting to spend our lunch break outdoors helped to make the work and tests less stressful for those kids and teens who actually get stressed by things like that; but the major effect the weather had on my usual Monday schedule was that Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I skipped our after-school study time in favor of biking a playing outside with Ethan and Ehlana.

That was my favorite part of the day; though spending the evening with Michael at his house was a close second. Rowen and Tim split up with us when we were set free from school so that they could drop bookbag off at their houses and grab their bikes; but they'd caught up with us again by the time Michael and I had our bikes ready to go; the trailer hooked up to mine; and Ethan and Ehlana ready to go too. We started out our adventure with our first construction site tour of the year – biking around the new section of town first, and then going across the river and checking out the lab and medical center projects.

Those two sites were a real contrast – almost a before and after look; though the medical center will only have one basement level, so the hole isn't as extreme as it had been for the lab when that dig was started. While we couldn't see most of the work that's happened at the lab over the winter; Ethan, Ehlana, and I know exactly how much has been accomplished there; and they're very excited about only having about six months left to go before the lab opens. It won't even be that long before they'll start spending time there because they'll be there with Mom fairly regularly once it's time for her to start working on the computer systems.

While the lab and medical center projects are a big deal for our little town; I think it's going to be the houses and apartment building in the new section that is going to be the most fun this year. The apartment building is going to be a big deal for a lot of people, with one of the best parts of the new home opportunities being the availability of housing for at least some of the construction workers – particularly the ones who've been separated from their families and living in the temporary bunkhouse trailers. The new homes scheduled for this year will make the new section feel more like a community and neighborhood than it has so far with just a handful of families living there now; though we're still keeping to our schedule and plan despite the fact that interest in buying homes of every kind there could allow us to speed up construction. We won't do that because too many new houses would just leave us with empty houses in the rest of town right now; and we don't want that problem.

I don't really need to cover any more of that right now; so let's move along. While the bike ride and tour was fun, it was the play time at the park that was the most fun; and we had lots of kid and teen company there. While it was nice and warm out, the ground will still be wet and mushy for a while yet even if the weather holds and we don't get more rain or snow; so our playground time was a little messy too – especially for my adorable brother and sister. Mom was amused by their insistence that they'd needed to act like 'normal' toddlers while we were at the park even if she wasn't impressed with wet, muddy clothes and boots.

Rowen and Tim moved on when we took Ethan and Ehlana home, but Michael and I stayed long enough to help Mom with getting the twins stripped, cleaned up, and into warm, clean clothes. That didn't leave us any extra time before needing to be at his house for dinner, and Jacob already had everything ready by the time we got there; so we sat down to eat right away. Sometimes I wonder that Jacob doesn't seem to ever want to just have a night off from cooking on his days off, but then he really does love getting to experiment with new recipes; and that is different than cooking for hundreds of people at the Inn.

Since we hadn't done our homework after school, Michael and I needed to do that after we finished eating and cleaning the kitchen; and Rebecca joined us for that since she'd been hanging out with some friends at the park earlier too. Michael and I still did our guitar lesson and some other music time too, but that didn't leave us with any alone time opportunities; and we only had a short chat with his parents before it was time for me to get home for the night. Even the studying was fun; but a little more quiet time – and cuddling with Michael – would have been nice.

I've been busy since I got home too, but I'm also sticking to my plan to get more sleep at night; which is why I'm writing this before midnight again – and needed to cut back on my language and archive studies to make that possible. When I got home from Michael's house, I helped Mom with getting the twins bathed and ready for bed; we did story time with Dad in the office; and then Mom did my Magi lesson with me after Ethan and Ehlana were tucked in for the night. I headed to bed right after that, and have been working on my computer since climbing into bed with Mandy. I did my family business work first, since I can't really delay doing some of those jobs, and though I needed to cut back on my studies, I did have enough time for a little bit of studying for both my languages and archives research even though I didn't put in nearly the hour or so of each I have been doing most school nights. I kept the nightly computer checks to a minimum too; but I'm also going to start doing more of those checks during other times of the day to help keep up with current events around the world instead of doing that all at night.

I don't have anything else to report for today, and I'm seriously ready for the down time despite the facts that it feels an hour earlier than it is and I'm used to much later nights; so I'm going to tuck my computer into its case now and call it a night. Until next time...

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

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

We had another change in our usual Tuesday night schedule; though this time it wasn't weather-related – we just ended up spending the evening at Rowen's house after Michael, Tim, and I were invited to go there for dinner when Rowen's mother found out that we were expecting to put in extra study time together after dinner to finish up a project and get ready for two tests.

The weather was still very nice today – at least until the rain started at around dinnertime and the temperature started dropping like a rock; but the crash back into winter isn't supposed to last long. Since tomorrow is an after-school work day anyway; I don't really mind the timing for that at all. Our extra studying tonight was fairly well-timed too for both Rowen and me; since alone time opportunities with our boyfriends and dealing with our periods doesn't really work out very well anyway. I'm also glad that we'll be getting that out of the way this week instead of during March Break; so we'll be done with it by the time we're ready to get started on a week of fun and adventures.

That's actually something we talked about a bit tonight while we studied; partly because Mom and Dad have decided that she's going to take Ethan, Ehlana, Michael, and me to Crystal Springs for three days and two nights next week. Mom's birthday is on Monday, so we're going to be at home for a birthday breakfast that Dad will need to miss because he'll already be in the city; and then we'll head there too and have Mom's birthday celebration there. I'm sure that Mom would have at least been going there for an overnight stay on Monday one way or the other, and this change was made after Violet and Dillon firmed up their plans. Michael and I found out about it when we checked in at home on our way to Rowen's house; and Miranda and Jacob had already given their approval for the trip – even though that means he'll need an extra day off from the Inn on a holiday week. I'll try to find some extra time to help out there to make up for that; but we'll see how that goes with everything else we already have planned.

I'm sure that Rowen and Tim would have liked to go along with us, but that isn't an option this time; and I think they'll manage to keep themselves entertained while their best friends are away for a few days. Rowen and I also talked about what we can do with Dawn and Jillian while they're here, and though we want to spend time with Michael and Tim too; Michael will be spending a lot of time at the Inn; Tim's going to spend time at the shop with his father; and we'll end up with a fair bit of girls-only time anyway. Some of our ideas will depend on the weather; but sleepovers and other indoor fun will be part of the action for sure; and I've already sent off some email invitations tonight for a dinner, movie, makeover, and sleepover night.

Getting back to the action from today, we were busy enough at school with tests and other work; we spent our entire lunch break outdoors, enjoying the warm that broke into the seventies for a while this afternoon; and band practice ended up being a bit short again when a few too many teens skipped it in favor of spending that time outdoors instead. I can see how that must get frustrating for Mrs. Robinson, and while I'm not going to promise that I'll never skip a band practice for no reason other than I'd rather be doing anything else; I will try to keep that in mind and not do it very often.

Tim did get to goof off outside with some of the guys while waiting for us; and we weren't surprised to find out that tossing a football around was involved – even though the football field was too sodden for them to use. He wasn't really all that interested in heading over to the computer store when it was time to get started on our studies, but reminding him that we had a fair bit to get done tonight – including getting ready for a test in one of his least-favorite subjects – was enough to draw him away from the football action. He may grumble a lot about the extra work we put in when studying together; but then he also likes the results of that work – at least from the parental relationship point of view.

I don't actually have much to report from our time at the computer store or at Rowen's house. Rowen's parents had Patrick and Scott with us for dinner too, but they didn't cause any problems tonight; and some gaming time with Michael and Tim while Rowen and I helped out with cooking. They stayed out of our way while we studied in the dining room after we all finished eating and cleaning the kitchen; and I'm sure that nobody reading this needs a play-by-play of our test preparation or the details of our little Grade Eight projects. It is sometimes a bit strange having both Michael and Rowen know how pointless all of that work is for me yet not be able to deal with that openly when we're together, but then it is all for appearances anyway; and it is more fun to hang out together – even if that means we have to play 'normal' teens to do that.

It would be nice if the Magi council was ready to give us a bit more slack for that, but I should be happy with what we are allowed; considering how much more that is compared to what most Magi kids and teens are allowed. At least if we do this well-enough; it'll help all of the younger Magi kids – and future generations. Yes, that's already changing for Ethan, Ehlana, and even our little cousins; but we're still a very long way from kids and teens being allowed to know about all other Magi or training together in groups. We still really only have a comparatively few kids being taught with Mom's more advanced pre-natal and neo-natal programs; so even that is a long-term project.

That's getting off on a side-trip again; and I really don't want to sound like I'm complaining. Mom and I just have a different perspective on Magi training; but we understand and appreciate how the Magi Council has chosen to deal with our collective situation to protect everyone.

Anyway, since Magi-powered studying wasn't an option tonight, it took a while to work through our project and have Tim feeling fairly comfortable about the tests we'll be writing tomorrow; so we didn't have any time left to play anymore before Michael, Tim, and I all needed to head home for the night. Michael and I left first so that Rowen and Tim didn't have an audience for their goodnight hugs and kisses; but then we wanted to be alone for a few moments too – even though we were both damp and a bit chilled when we said goodnight on my front porch after running there through the steady rain. That kind of weather does have one advantage – we didn't have a group of witnesses like we often do on nice-weather days – and especially during the summer.

For those Magi reading this in the future who didn't grow up here in Witch Falls – or don't live here anymore – I want to remind you that we don't have a town full of voyeurs here. That's just the way it is in a small, close-knit community like ours, and even though it can occasionally be annoying to earn a starring role on the gossip news network; that's nothing compared to everything that's wonderful and best about living here. That's something else that comes from the perspective of a girl who spent the first nine years and change of her life on the run and often prevented by necessity from getting too close to anyone except my mother, but even if you live in a big city; think about getting to know your neighbors. Those connections are what really matter in life – not your career, social status, or whatever else you think is more important than your family, friends, and community.

It's way too easy to forget that sometimes.

Even though I didn't get to really spend much time with Mom, Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana today, we did at least start and end the day together; and I was home in time to do the bedtime story and snack with my brother and sister. I also had a bit of one-on-one chat time with each of them when it was time to tuck them in for the night; and then it was time for Mom to do my Magi lesson with me. She keeps very detailed records of my lessons and archive assignments; but it's probably past-time for me to add an update here.

We've both noted in our archives and journals that my training has been sped up compared to where Mom was in her training at my age – before her parents were killed in the plane crash; and that pace has continued even though there isn't any immediate danger from the Hathornes or other Dark Magi. Having other Magi to train with is obviously different for me too; but that helps me more right now with learning to teach as opposed to learning new skills. I'm not going to add anything here about the details of my training tonight; but it's time to mention that the day that I'll begin my self-training is approaching fast.

It isn't that Mom can't continue to teach me – and she will still be able to do that for a long time. I'm just getting to the point where I know enough, and have the control and abilities required to teach myself and choose my own learning path – just as she did after finding out about the archives shortly after learning of her vast inheritance. I'd suggest that she'll love being freed of that almost-daily chore; but then something else will come up to fill those empty hours each week.

Quit grinning, Dad; I don't need that mental picture now – or whenever you're reading this in the future some day. Then again, you might not be grinning; since you'll know what probably didn't get to happen with that 'spare' time! ;^)

I so shouldn't have gone there – quick, change the subject!

Once my Magi lesson on the elements was finished, Mom, Dad, and I all went up to bed; and I used a bit of Magi power to get what I wanted to work on finished while still being able to get to sleep before midnight. I don't have anything at all to report from any of that, and if I can move on from those thoughts about Mom and Dad quickly enough; I'll still manage to make that happen. With that in mind, that's all for tonight; so, until next time...

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

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

The rain ended overnight, but it didn't warm up very much – at least compared to the past couple of days.

That seemed to set the tone for the day; and it's felt like the long, drawn-out mid-week blah that Wednesdays are famous for.

I'm not saying there wasn't any fun for me today too, because there was; but I'm feeling the weight of all of the work tonight; and it's just time for me to call it a night and get some rest. I don't really need to mention that the school work and tests weren't a problem for me; we had a long after-school study session at Landry's; and the rest of my evening was standard, Wednesday night work and study action except for the new, earlier bedtime.

I'll only be doing the necessary family business work and no language or archive studies until after March Break now, and though we still have two more sleeps until the start of the holiday; I'm totally ready for that break – and looking forward to having nine un-interrupted days of fun and adventure with my family and friends.

Let's end this on that note – and head off to dreamland thinking about those happy thoughts.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Congratulations, Aunt Deborah, Uncle Nick, and Leah!

Mom was first to find out that Aunt Deborah is pregnant again; though Ethan, Ehlana, and I were all able to sense the baby when we saw her at game night. It'll be a week or so before she's far enough along for a positive test result; so she'll need to wait to make the happy announcement.

While having another cousin in the family will be awesome – though that's not technically true for my brother, sister, and I – the timing is going to work out for our future plans too. Aunt Deborah will be off work from the clinic during the winter and spring; but will be back and able to help out in time to help get the new medical center up and running for next summer. That won't be all that long after the lab opens in September; but Uncle Mark and Uncle Adam will be able to deal with that and still give Uncle Adam time to do his research at the lab with the same help Uncle Adam had during Aunt Deborah's last maternity leave.

Compared to that, the rest of the news for my day isn't very exciting; but we did have a good day. The rebound back into the sixties and sunshine helped the mood around town and at school; though having one more sleep until March Break had a lot to do with that too. On the downside for some kids and teens we had more tests to write today, and the rush was on for some students to meet project and assignment deadlines; but none of that bothered Michael, Rowen, or me. I'm not including Tim in that assertion because he was stressed about the tests; but then he was a happy camper to be done with them today; and tomorrow will mostly be an easy day at school. We'll get some holiday assignments, hear at least some test results, and do some make-work; but that'll mostly just be play time, since there's no point in starting new study modules until we get back from March Break.

We didn't need our after-school study session tonight, so after stopping in for a snack break at the Inn, Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I collected our bikes and went for a ride before hanging out at the park for a while until Michael and I needed to be at the Inn again. The rest of the evening was entertaining; though the first few hours were busy too. There were a lot of people grabbing dinner at the Inn for various reasons that ranged from saving time after shopping to family meals ahead of March Break vacation plans. That contrasted with game night, where we had fewer players than usual for the same reasons – people were either busy packing for trips or getting ready for inbound guests over the next couple of days.

Miranda was hoping to win the senior title for bragging rights over the next two weeks; and her girls against the boys night helped her get that – with a little help from Mom. Rowen and Tim skipped game night this week too, and though they spent some time together later; that was mostly because Rowen helped her parents with some work at the store to get ready for their March Break sale that starts tomorrow. That's how I ended up with Rebecca as my game night partner, and while Michael didn't do very well without Tim on his team; Rebecca and I won the junior championship to give the Stone and Proctor families bragging rights for both titles.

That was a nice added bonus, but it was the fun time with Rebecca, Ehlana, and Sophia that we all really enjoyed the most. Ethan spent most of the evening with Michael, or with Dad and Jacob; and they managed to have fun too despite the lack of gaming success. The low turnout allowed us to get through the game rotation fairly quickly; and Michael was set free early so he could walk home with me instead of staying to help clean up and get the dining room ready for the morning breakfast crowd. That didn't translate into any alone time because we did the bedtime story with the twins and tucked them in for the night before he went home. That was fun too, and we didn't really mind – or even expect to have any alone time anyway; but I'm wishing that we could have hidden in the lounge for a little cuddle time instead.

I don't have anything else worth mentioning for the rest of my evening. It was just the standard Thursday night Magi lesson; studying; and family business work – except shorter by two or three hours. I again needed to use a bit of Magi power to get the bare minimum finished, and the language 'study' time was actually a work-related email exchange that surprised my contact and had the bonus of a little real-life written language practice.

My midnight deadline is here, though, and that means I won't actually be sleeping by then; but a few minutes one way or the other isn't a big deal – and I'll be fired up anyway now that we're down to counting hours to the start of our holiday. We're going to have another best-ever vacation; and I am so ready for all of that fun and excitement! With that in mind, I'm going to get started on that 'one more sleep' time now, so...

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

Friday, March 14, 2014

March Break is officially here! Yeah!

Yes, this is the archive journal of a Magi Master, but I'm also thirteen; and love holidays from school as much as any other teen. This is also another 'first' for Michael and me; so it should be another best-ever-so-far break too.

Since we are out of school for the next nine days, I'm also going to skip to the best part of the day – everything that came after we were set free from our last class of the afternoon.

Michael and I split up from Tim and Rowen long enough to check in at the Inn, grab Michael's bike on our way to my house; and we had my bike out of the storage barn and ready to go by the time they caught up with us. Ethan and Ehlana had been having some bonus play time with Naomi and Aiden after their KidZone time, and though I thought about taking them out to play too; Naomi and Aiden were both going to be picked up before we'd expected to be back and Mom decided that the four younger kids should stay behind. That's another case where I get conflicted between spending time with my brother and sister and having fun with my friends; but we made up for that later with some play time in the lounge that Ethan and Ehlana joined us for.

Having some teen time was great too, and since Dad already knew by then that he was going to be a bit delayed at the office; we even had some bonus time to hang our and ride before needing to be home for dinner. It was busy along the main drag, so we stayed away from there and biked on the north side of the river. The main trail at the park was passable, but the kid and teen-made bike trails that wound through the wooded areas were mostly unrideable yet – though Tim did attempt a couple of them and didn't get far before deciding that being wet and muddy wasn't worth the uncertain fun potential.

I don't mind getting dusty and dirty while riding our bikes, but can also admit that I'm a fair-weather rider; and don't want to ride – or fall – in the mud.

We stopped at the park for a while to hang out with some of our friends, but then we went for a ride north of town around one of the big country blocks – including a ride past the lab and medical center. While we didn't add to the busy around the stores on Witch Falls Road, we did cross to the south side of town long enough to check out any action going on at the school. The answer to that question ended up being 'not much'. I suspect that Tim was hoping for some football action there; but most of the players on the football team were working; doing other things; or even heading out to vacation destinations already. There were a few younger kids at the playground, but other than exchanging a few waves and smiles; we didn't even stop in to visit or play with them before moving on. Tim stopped in at home to get changed even though he hadn't really gotten all that muddy during his brief trail-riding attempts. We had time for a loop around the new section of town before heading home, and that's when we found out that Jenny's boyfriend from last summer, Joel, was coming to spend the week with his father. That news just came through random chance when we happened to be passing by while his Dad was about to hop into his truck and head out to get Joel after finishing work for the day.

I don't expect that Joel will have a change in living arrangements, but I also expect that his father will be among the first of the construction crew men and women to take advantage of the new apartment and home rental opportunities that will be available once the apartment building opens at the end of June. The only reason I mention anything about Joel here is because he and Jenny still like each other a lot, and I'm more than a little glad that I'll be away for the first few days next week just in case things get weird around here because of that – and the fact that Jenny's current boyfriend, Garth, will likely be spending a lot of time working on the family farm and at the greenhouses next week. To be blunt, Jenny can get bored very quickly when she has too much time on her hands.

Moving along, we were home in time for some pre-dinner chat while waiting for the food to hit the table and the last of our dinner guests to arrive; and the next couple of hours was a lot of fun as we talked about everything and anything; and just enjoyed spending that time together. Since we didn't cook, it was an all-teen clean-up crew; and the parents and grandparents took Ethan, Ehlana, and Zack to the park for a short blast of playground action before returning shortly after we'd finished the work in the kitchen and dining room.

It was video gaming time in the lounge then, and Michael and Tim happily helped Ehlana and Ethan work their way through three different games before it was time to see the rest of our guests out and do the bedtime story and snack with Mom and Dad. Rowen and Tim sort of missed the first part of that while they spent some quality time together in the lounge before joining us for the snack; and then they went ahead of Michael and me to 'set things up' for the movie we watched after Michael and I finished tucking Ethan and Ehlana in for the night.

I'm a little jealous; but then none of us would have gotten any alone time then if Michael and I had stayed in the lounge and handed off Ethan and Ehlana's bedtime routine to Mom and Dad anyway.

So we're up to the movie and cuddle time of the report, and I'm sure it's no surprise to anyone that those last couple of hours with our boys ranked fairly high on the best moments of the day list for both Rowen and me. That was not because we were swept away by the cinematic excellence of an Oscar-winning masterpiece, but then we are teens; and there is a place and time for no-think, blow stuff up, and fight the bad guys to the bitter end flicks. The boys did get to choose, and usually do because that's easier than listening to Tim complain all the way through a chick flick; but Rowen and I are developing an appreciation for those movies – particularly since nearly every one requires that one or more of the lead guys have to take their shirts off to show off their upper bodies.

If you're a guy reading this, don't go there; since every girl knows that you watch those movies as much for the often scantily-clad women as you do for the fights, car chases, and explosions. Oh, and while I'm there anyway – note to every guy out there: if you're watching any movie with hot chicks in skimpy clothes scenes, don't forget that you have a real girl in your arms while drooling over the Hollywood dream. Doghouses are particularly cold in the wintertime too! ;^)

So we watched a half-decent action-martial arts film; chatted; and enjoyed the cuddle time for a couple of hours. Mom and Dad had already gone to bed by the time the movie was over; but the guys still needed to be home by a holiday week extended curfew time of twelve-thirty. We split up for the last bit of time we had left for the goodnight hugs and kisses, and Rowen and Tim stayed in the lounge for that while Michael and I used the living room. One of us ended up with buttons done up wrong on our shirt, and it wasn't a girl – or Michael. That might explain why one of us seemed to be grinning more than the others; but then Tim is generally a fairly happy guy.

He needed to run for home by the time he and Michael left us on the front porch; and we stood out there until Tim was out of sight and Michael was ready to go into his own house. I was seriously wishing that we'd gotten approval for a co-ed sleepover about then; but I didn't want to push my luck this week – and I do get to spend three days and two nights in Crystal Springs with Michael. Yes, we'll be in separate rooms and have toddler roommates for mini chaperones; but we're still going to have an amazing few days together!

Rowen and I had a bit of cleaning to deal with before we went up to my room again, but it wasn't long after that before we were changed and in bed with Mandy and our computers. While I've been doing my usual bedtime computing, Rowen has been surfing YouTube for wacky videos and we've mostly been talking about our boyfriends and our plans for the weekend and next week. It may end up that we don't do a lot together this weekend, and can't do anything while I'm in the city; but we had fun coming up with ideas for what she and Tim could do while Michael and I are away; and added a few more tentative plans for entertaining Dawn and Jillian while they're here from Wednesday afternoon until Sunday morning.

It's funny that my only late night this week won't be because of the work I'm trying to re-organize and prioritize so that I'm not awake until two or three every night, but all of the fun is worth losing a bit of sleep over; and I am rested up and ready to play this week anyway. That doesn't mean that I don't need any sleep, though; so we're going to put our computers away now; cuddle in bed with Mandy; and probably still talk for another half-hour or so before we fall asleep. March Break doesn't get us out of our usual Saturday morning work, but we'll still have some afternoon play time; and then we're both hoping to have some Saturday night alone time with our respective boyfriends.

I do not plan on falling asleep on Michael again this week; so I really have to go now.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Saturday, March 15, 2014

If the weather is a factor in determining the name of this holiday; then sunny day with temperatures into the seventies definitely qualifies this as Spring Break – though it's going to be much colder tomorrow. That's only going to last for one day; and it's supposed to be nicer again on Monday.

Our first day of our vacation has been awesome – at least from my perspective. I missed having Michael with us for Tai Chi, but he was working the breakfast shift at the Inn so he could have more time to hang out with Tim, Rowen, and me once we were available to play for the day. While I missed the good morning hugs and kisses – and Tai Chi – with Michael; having Rowen with us for breakfast was great; and Dad went with the full country breakfast to fuel us up for a busy morning of chores. That started for me as soon as Rowen left to meet up with her parents at the computer store; and I worked straight through until lunchtime. Nearly everything I did except for cleaning my own rooms was outdoors; and Dad and I both loved being out in the fresh air for a few hours. The father-daughter time was nice too, and I was again reminded that we don't get to do that very often – whether it's working or playing. We're both just too busy.

Let's add that the my list of things that never end up happening; and maybe we'll manage to have a few of those special moments now and then even if we don't get a chance to do much where we're not in groups with friends and family. I'm sure that's one more thing that is different for me because of my perspective from years of having Mom's undivided attention and us counting on each other; but I'd also never change anything now in trade for more one-on-one time with either of my parents.

The early spring chores continued today, and while we won't need to mow the lawn for a little while yet, we have a big yard; and there is a lot of work to keep up with. My jobs included cleaning up winter debris from along the river; and raking out the flower gardens. The truck and van got washed again too so they'd be shiny and clean for the trips to the city they'd each be making on Monday. Most of the other jobs were small, and while Dad had other work to get done today; I was set free shortly after Michael came over after finishing up at the Inn until he needed to be back for the dinner rush. He'd stayed at the Inn all morning until the prep work was done for the lunch rush, and he helped me finish my last chore; but then we both had almost the entire afternoon off to play.

Mom had an easy-lunch nearly ready by then, so we ate quickly before getting our bikes; hooking up the trailer; and taking Ethan and Ehlana for a ride. We collected Rowen and Tim along the way; and then we all went for a ride north of town. That hour-long tour around the country roads was a blast, and we followed that up with a visit to the Emporium for ice cream, drinks, and snacks before we biked over to the park for our little picnic and some playground fun. While it wasn't in our afternoon plans, a pick-up football game was put together after a few guys who'd started tossing a football around attracted enough guys for a small scrimmage – including Michael and Tim.

Okay, they attracted you too, Ethan, and Michael helped you join in for a few plays; but they didn't count you on the team – unless you include that extra man on the field penalty joke the other team tried to use when you and Michael scored that touchdown.

The field was fairly soft, and Rowen and I weren't at all interested in playing today; but we ended up having lots of company to chat with while sitting on the bleachers with Ehlana and watching the action. Some of the girls were there with boyfriends, the same as we were; but others were there to check out the guys – especially a handful of visiting cousins and friends. By the time Michael or Tim reads this it won't matter to them; but Rowen and I were particularly interested in the girls who were happily checking out our boyfriends with a bit too much interest.

No, we weren't jealous or worried; though Rowen was a bit annoyed by Tim's reaction to the attention. He likes it and tries to show off even more than usual, and Rowen wishes he was more like Michael; since my boyfriend pretends not to notice – even though he does. He's a normal guy and it is an ego boost for him too; but he also tries his best not to give off any signals that might be taken the wrong way – particularly with teenage girls.

The football action meant that we needed to wrap up our play afternoon early enough that Michael could stop in at home and get changed and cleaned up before going back to the Inn; and I ended up going home with just Ethan and Ehlana when Rowen and Tim decided to go over to his house and hang out there until dinnertime. I took the twins inside first; put my bike and the trailer away next; and then we did a little afternoon recap with Mom in the kitchen while she worked on our dinner and Dad was busy in the office. Spaghetti with veal cutlets is one of my favorite meals, and while I didn't help with that; I did toss the salad and get the garlic bread with cheese ready to put into the oven while Mom threw an apple crisp together to have for dessert.

Dad took a couple of hours off from work to eat, help with the clean-up, and then go for a walk with Mom, Ethan, Ehlana, and me that included some cameo chats along the way; but then he went back to work again while Mom and I took care of bath time for Ethan and Ehlana. We got that done by the time Michael came over again after finishing at the Inn; and he and I took my brother and sister up to the lounge to watch a movie and cuddle with them.

Without company around to worry about, we picked 'The Pacifier', and while it's hardly a best-ever kind of movie; Ethan and Ehlana sure enjoyed it more than some of the shows they're stuck with when they have to play 'normal' toddlers. I guess that's one down side I'll give them compared to when I was their age. I never had to worry about things like that when it was just Mom and me. Of course I also couldn't stream movies to my iPad or computer; hook up a hard drive to my television; or watch shows in high-definition like they can now. Oh well, at least I didn't have to walk ten miles each way to and from school like Grandpa Grant did – up hill both ways; in fifteen feet of snow; while dodging dinosaurs that tried to have the kids and teens for breakfast or afternoon snacks.

It should be fun finding out how wild those stories can get the longer I live here. Even Lee's farm equipment bench-pressing legend has grown a lot in just a few years; though the funniest thing about that is the fact that the real story would be even wilder than the legend-in-the-making.

While I loved spending that time with my brother and sister, I was also good with having some alone time with Michael when the movie was over and we handed them off to Mom and Dad to do their bedtime story and tuck them in for the night on their way to bed. Since we'd already watched one Vin Diesel movie, Michael and I decided to watch the latest installment in the Riddick series. We didn't let watching that get in the way of some quality play time; and we were both very happy campers by the time he needed to head home for twelve-thirty.

It was raining and getting cooler by then, but I still went outside to share one last goodnight kiss or three with Michael before watching him run home and share those last smiles and waves before we both went inside. Mandy was already sleeping on my bed by the time I got upstairs again, and she ignored me when I jostled her while getting into bed too and settling down with my computer. While I wasn't planning on doing much more than writing this and checking my email, Rowen was online too, so we had a chat; and I took care of a pair of work-related email while we exchanged messages and told each other about what we'd each been doing with our boyfriends and families.

That was fun, but I've gone two nights in a row with staying up late; and I'm ready for some downtime now. Tomorrow is going to mostly be another play day for Ethan, Ehlana, and me; though I'm also going to help out at the Inn for the buffet shift. My plans for tomorrow night include some Jacuzzi time and heading off to bed early so I'll be ready for three days of fun in the city; and I hope that works out since I'm fairly sure that we'll have some more fun, late nights ahead of us while we're in Crystal Springs.

Michael and I are thirteen, and we'll be watching Ethan and Ehlana each night; so don't take that the wrong way. Then again, I don't have to have toddler chaperones in my dreams, and on that note; I'm suddenly feeling very sleepy. ;^)

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Sunday, March 16, 2014

We woke up to the spectacle of wet snow falling this morning and the temperature hovering just a hair above freezing. If Mother Nature does have a sense of humor, there's a sardonic edge to it; because some of us did not find the forty degree plunge in temperature or the snow particularly amusing after such a beautiful first day of our March Break.

The snow and rain pretty much stopped by mid-morning, and the snow didn't stick around long; but I wasn't at all motivated to play outdoors today – and didn't.

We went to church; had a soup and sandwiches lunch; and then I took care of Ethan and Ehlana this afternoon while Mom and Dad worked in the office – both of them getting ready for the next few days in the city; though for different reasons. In Mom's case, she was working ahead so that she won't have much work to do while we're there; and Dad's trying to do a bit more than usual so that he can do more with us than usual on Monday and Tuesday night.

Michael, Rowen, and Tim came over during Michael's afternoon break, and we mostly played video games in the lounge for a couple of hours until Michael and I needed to get to the Inn to help out with two packed dinner buffet sittings. All of that was fun for us, but I was ready to come home again once we'd finished all of the cooking and everyone was in clean-up mode in the kitchen. Mom isn't doing any Magi lessons with Ethan, Ehlana, or me this week, but I still needed to pack for our trip and spent some quality time in my Jacuzzi after Ethan and Ehlana were tucked in for the night. I'm going to be sleeping before eleven o'clock tonight, but we'll trade that off for the early wake-up call to see Dad on his way to the city – and have a mini birthday celebration for Mom too while he's still here.

That won't be the first celebration of the day for her; but let's not go there and pretend that I don't know how my parents will be celebrating Mom's birthday in the not-to-distant future. As always, if you're using your imagination about that some day in my future – don't tell me about it!

So that's pretty much it for today. There wasn't much email action tonight – other than some weekend updates and messages to let me know that weekend travelers got home safely tonight. I had one little family business issue to deal with tonight too; but that didn't take long and wasn't anything serious. Now it's time to crash for a while, so...

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

Monday, March 17, 2014

Happy 36th Birthday, Mom!

You are once again married to a younger man – numerically – for the next eight months.

While I'm thinking about that, I have a couple of comments to make about my mother. First, she looks like she's closer to twenty-six, and second; she's much more confident about herself now than she was in the years before we moved here. Her beauty is still usually very understated, but she's comfortable with it now; and there's a quiet confidence that wasn't there before either. I really love all of that; and it's a fairly awesome bonus to know that I'm going to look that great when I grow up!

Before I get started on the birthday report, there's one more important news flash that gets the second place spot on the daily update – Mom, Ethan, Ehlana, and I found out this morning that Aunt Grace is pregnant! As with Aunt Deborah, it'll be a little while before she'll be far enough along to get positive test results; but we won't be able to tell her about it early like Mom could for Aunt Deborah. There does seem to be a bit of a trend here, and though the lab won't have been up and running for long by the time Aunt Grace will be due; the timing for her shouldn't be a problem. She won't be involved in the research that Uncle Adam will be in charge of anyway; and once the construction bills are paid; her job will be fairly easy for a while – until it's time to move on product development.

It's also going to be very cool for our two new cousins to grow up together – and even be in the same class when they go to school. Sure, I see that at school with other families, but it isn't something that Ethan, Ehlana, or I will get to experience; and even Michael, Rebecca, Tim, and Rowen don't have cousins at school who are in the same grade with them.

We found out about that when we had Mom's birthday breakfast at the Inn this morning, but before I get to that; there was a lot more going on before we headed over to the Inn. Dad was awake early so that he could get ready and have time to watch Mom open three birthday gifts in bed before he needed to grab a quick breakfast and hit the road. There was time for a short birthday cuddle in Mom's bed after we saw Dad out, and then I took care of getting Ethan and Ehlana ready for the day while Mom only needed to worry about herself. We skipped Tai Chi, but Michael came over in time to help me to get the minivan packed. We had fifteen minutes to spare by the time we loaded Ethan and Ehlana into their car seats and Mom drove us over to the Inn.

That gave us time for a little fun with Michael's parents, and they were working on their days off this week because of the holiday – though the extra business from Mom's little breakfast party made for a busier than usual morning rush anyway. We were there first, so Mom was able to welcome our family and friends as they arrived; and that's how she found out about Aunt Grace before Ethan, Ehlana, or I did. Everyone in our local family was there, and Aunt Leanne and Grandma had invited a dozen or so friends too – plus their kids. That's why Michael and I were able to hang out with Rowen and Tim while having breakfast while Mom had fun with the other adults. Ethan, Ehlana, and I missed out on most of the gift-opening while hanging out with 'the kids', but we got to have Mom to ourselves for most of the rest of the day; so it only seemed fair that we shared her this morning with everyone else.

I'm sure that Dad's thinking that it's fair that he gets to have her to himself right now as I write this; but let's not go there!

Breakfast was an hour-long blast of fun, but one good thing about breakfast birthday parties – at least on weekdays – is that they have a time limit. For some of our guests, that meant needing to get to jobs; and we were able to get on the road for Crystal Springs by nine o'clock. The trip there felt a bit weird to me because Michael insisted that I sit up front with Mom while he sat on the back bench seat and the twins were in their car seats on the middle bucket seats. It isn't that I didn't want to keep Mom company, because that was fun; but Michael and I have sat together almost every time we've been traveling together since we started dating. He joked about getting to watch the cartoons with Ethan and Ehlana while I couldn't do that from the front, and Michael did have fun with Ethan and Ehlana; but I'm sure that he would've liked to cuddle with me as much as I wanted to be sitting with him for the hour and a half or so we were on the road.

Mom has quite a few things she wants to pick up while we're in the city, and since we had time before lunch, and didn't have company with us to worry would find out anything they shouldn't about the twins; we stopped in at a lab supply store to pick up some gear and chemicals that Ethan and Ehlana needed for their college studies. While my brother and sister have the equipment they need for their studies, they still need to add new gear as they need it; and the supplies – particularly for chemistry and biology – need to be replaced more often now that they're doing advanced work. I did a lot of that work with Mom when I was their age, but it was definitely easier for us to study those subjects without having to worry about anyone seeing us working with comparatively dangerous chemicals or doing some of the less-pleasant biology studies – like dissecting various animal specimens.

I guess that's not exactly birthday-fun interesting, but we needed to do that today or tomorrow; since we'll have Dawn and Jillian hanging out with us on Wednesday before we head home. That stop didn't take all that long, and then we moved on to the Mall in time for a little fun shopping before stopping for lunch in the food court. With the warmer weather, Michael, Ethan, Ehlana, and I all needed to start working on new spring wardrobes. Most teens don't think about it much, but toddlers grow out of clothes just as quickly as we do; and the four of us all have the same problem with not being able to wear any of our spring clothes from last year. We didn't have a major clothes-shopping spree in the plans, but we did all need some basics; and we took care of maybe a bit less than half of that today – including a trio of really nice dresses for Mom, Ehlana, and me that we wore to dinner tonight.

Michael and Ethan weren't bored the entire time we were at the Mall, and while they went off together to check out the video game, electronics, and toy stores for a while; they also did some 'guy' clothes shopping too. Michael didn't try to get any dress clothes for tonight, since he buys most of them at Ayres – like most of the other guys in town do – but he did pick up some spring-weight pants, a pair of jeans, and a couple of shirts. Our last shopping stop of the day was to pick up one or more pairs of shoes for each of us; and then we needed to get over to the hotel and checked in – at least for two out of three of our rooms. Michael and I had rooms next to each other and across the hall from Mom and Dad's room so that we were close together; so it didn't take long to haul our luggage and the shopping bags of clothes we were going to use right away up to our rooms.

We were at the hotel in time for Mom to enjoy some self-pampering while getting ready for her birthday dinner and evening entertainment, and we set her free to do that; but Michael and I took Ethan and Ehlana on a tour of the hotel and nearby area around it before returning to our rooms to get ready to go out for dinner too. Michael took care of getting Ethan ready; though we took turns watching both kids while we each grabbed a shower; and then Ehlana and I played dress-up and did our hair while Michael and Ethan finished getting ready in their room. Dad checked in on us when he got back from the courthouse, but then we left him and Mom alone while he freshened up; and they met us in the lobby when they were finally ready to walk over to the Bistro with us.

Celebrating Mom's birthday was the most important part of the evening, but I really loved getting to spend a couple of hours with the Malloys tonight. They met us at the Bistro, and we were at a table that was big enough to seat all of us with just a bit of crowding to make room for nine. Angela and Terry are really great, and I wish that we could see them more often, but we're all busy; and it's as tough for them to get away for a visit to Witch Falls as it is for us to free up a weekend to come and see them – especially when we have that problem with making trips to Woodvale or Granite Park to see our family. Dad gets to see them once or twice each time he's in the city, and we keep in touch by phone and email all of the time; but we still had a lot of catching up to do since the last time we were able to be together. Seeing Valerie change so much was fun, and now that she's closing in on being a year and a half old; she's old enough to play a bit with Ethan and Ehlana – and keep the rest of us entertained with her antics.

A fairly upscale restaurant isn't maybe the best place to take three toddlers for dinner, but even while playing 'normal' kids, Ethan and Ehlana weren't a problem; and Valerie mostly followed their lead except when it came to making quite a mess while eating. Since Michael and I were tentatively in charge of the three younger kids during dinner, it was up to me to keep that mess to a minimum, but that would have been easier to do if I'd been able to use a Magi-powered shield. My new dress wasn't too much the worse for wear by the time we'd finished dessert and were getting ready to head back to the hotel; but I'm also glad that we weren't going out anywhere else afterward and I could get changed and do a bit of spot-cleaning.

Dad, Angela, and Terry were taking Mom out for drinks and a bit of dancing and socializing after dinner, so Michael and I had Valerie with us at the hotel while they were out. That wasn't really much work for us because she bounced around on the bed in my room for a while and then promptly fell asleep about twenty minutes into the movie we put on for her to watch with Ethan and Ehlana while all three of them stretched out on the bed and Michael and I sat on the little love seat and spent that time working on a couple of our holiday assignments on our computers.

While having some adults-only time was fun for Mom and Dad, he also couldn't stay out late either – and neither could Angela and Terry; so they were back at the hotel by a bit after eleven. Angela and Terry only stayed long enough to say goodnight to us and pick up their sleeping daughter, and Mom and Dad did a bedtime story and snack with Ethan and Ehlana before going on to their room. Dad had a bit of homework to do too, but I seriously doubt that he's started it yet – and may need to give himself an early wake-up call so he can do that before we meet and go out for breakfast in the morning at his favorite little diner.

Let's not go into why he isn't doing the work now. I don't want to be thinking about things like that – especially when my boyfriend is in the hotel room right next door!

Michael and Ethan didn't stay too much longer after Mom and Dad left before going to their room for the night; and Ehlana and I cuddled in bed together as soon as we were on our own and I'd changed into a night dress that would likely be keeping Michael awake if he'd seen me in it earlier. I snuggled with Ehlana and we had some girl chat time until she fell asleep; and then I fired up my computer and took care of a few family business issues along with my usual bedtime computer checks before getting to this update.

Rowen wasn't online, but she did send me an email before going to bed tonight with her news from home report; and it sounds as though she and Tim had fun. Kyle apparently has gotten a football scrimmage together for the afternoons this week – at least on the days that the weather cooperates – and Tim was happy to be allowed to join in for the game today after spending the morning helping out around the shop with his father, uncle, and cousins. Carolyn isn't interested in a career as a mechanic, but her parents want her to at least understand the basics about everything they do at Landry's; since they plan on passing the business off to their kids some day. I don't know if Carolyn wants that for herself yet or not, but she's a teenage girl and gets paid for the work; so that's good enough for her right now.

Of course, there's also the fact that she's so competitive and would never concede that there are jobs her big brother can do that girls can't; but then nearly every girl I know has at least a bit of that in them – Ehlana and me included. That's probably easier for us, knowing that we actually could lift a combine if we wanted to – not to mention the rest of our special abilities; but you know what I mean.

I had some email waiting in my inbox from Woodvale too, and Violet and Dillon had a good weekend with her family. They're spending some time with some of Violet's friends today and tomorrow; though they're also going out to a private dinner with both sets of her grandparents too tomorrow night so that they can have some time together without the rest of the family around. Dawn and Jillian are spending today and tomorrow with their friends, and doing a sleepover at Jillian's house tonight, since they'll be away for the last half of the holiday; and it sounds as though they're having lots of fun doing that.

We've got some fun planned for tomorrow too, including more shopping in the morning, an afternoon visit to SportsFusion; and then dinner and a movie night out with Dad after he's finished work for the day. Michael, Ethan, Ehlana, and I want to get up early for Tai Chi in the morning too before meeting Mom and Dad for breakfast, so I should wrap this up and join Ehlana in slumber land. Until next time...

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

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

This has been a really great day, and Michael and I even managed to have some alone time tonight while Mom did the bedtime story with Ethan and Ehlana in their room and Dad got started on his homework after we got back from the movie theater.

We packed a lot of fun into nearly every hour we were awake, starting with Tai Chi for Michael, Ethan, Ehlana, and me that attracted a fair bit of attention from other guests and hotel employees – especially because my brother and sister looked so adorable and amazing. That was entertaining for everyone there, including us; but then we needed to hurry to get dressed and ready for a play day before meeting up with Mom and Dad again and heading over to the little diner where Dad usually had breakfast on the days he's working in the city.

Let's again skip over what my parents may or may not have been doing as an alternate morning workout instead of joining us for Tai Chi – especially since their smiles when they did meet up with us were enough evidence for anyone to make an educated guess about that.

The food at the diner is decent enough and always very fast; since there isn't anything on the menu that can't be cooked in minutes – other than the staple meats that are always being churned out. That works for Dad since he needs to be at work anyway, but it didn't leave us much time to chat this morning while we ate – though maybe that wasn't all bad; since four of us are too young to hear the parental side of our overnight and early morning reports. Ethan and Ehlana happily took care of our news and most of the meal-time entertainment; and they attracted more attention again when we walked with Dad to the courthouse and sent him off to work with a round of hugs and kisses. That may have been a bit too small-town for some observers, but there wasn't anyone who didn't smile when they saw the twins offering their enthusiastic good-byes to Dad. I didn't have any teens around to worry about anyway, but even if I had; that kind of thing is never going to get between me and Dad for things like hugs and kisses – even if that isn't cool for teens to do anymore.

Anyone who hasn't had one or both parents in their lives and then gets to have a really great family can probably relate to me on that one; and I'm never, ever going to take what I have now for granted – no matter the hits to my reputation. Michael gets that, and while he didn't share a goodbye hug with my father, he didn't mind having Mom put an arm around his shoulders while Ethan, Ehlana, and I were busy.

After leaving Dad at the courthouse, Mom led us back to the hotel and we took care of a couple of little chores in our rooms before getting the minivan from the valet parking and heading out for some more shopping fun – this time in the downtown shopping area instead of on the outskirts of town where most of the big box stores and Malls are located around the edges of the city. While I love malls as much as the next girl, I also really enjoy visiting the unique stores and galleries that can usually only be found in local and independent businesses instead of the major chain stores.

In the downtown part of Crystal Springs, my favorite shops include everything from antiques and crafts to junk shops and used book stores. While I do admittedly do most of my reading online or using e-books; there's still something that I really love about reading physical books – and I picked up a few used ones today that I'll read and then donate to the school library when I'm finished with them. Michael picked up some comic books, but most of them were for gifts for friends who are still into them. Ethan and Ehlana left that store with books too, but that was really entirely for appearances; and they'll be donating those books to KidZone next week. It is funny to see them carrying toddler-level picture books around today when they were blasting through freshman-year science textbooks at home last week; but they couldn't very well rummage through the section of the store devoted to used texts for the local colleges without getting the kind of attention they don't need.

There's a nice little music store downtown that Michael and I had fun visiting, and while Mom wasn't all that impressed with the kazoos we bought for Ethan and Ehlana; I don't think they'll play them to the point of being annoying, and there aren't all that many choices that are toddler-friendly anyway.

Look on the bright side - we didn't buy them the cute little set of drums!

We didn't actually buy very much of anything this morning, but wandering around the shops was really entertaining; and kept us busy through until lunchtime. The choice of grabbing fast food today was made more because most of us weren't all that hungry after a big meal last night and breakfast at the diner this morning. Michael's appetite hadn't been affected, but that isn't surprising; and he isn't as scary to take into a restaurant as Tim and some of the other guys back home are. It's a really good thing that the Landry's have a successful business – they need it just to keep the boys in the family fed!

The fast food stop also had the advantage of leaving us with a bit more time for our afternoon adventure at SportsFusion. This was Ethan's and Ehlana's first visit to the sports entertainment center, and while they're too young for a lot of the coolest activities; there is still a lot for toddlers to do there – particularly the two-level playground that anyone can play on; but is geared toward the younger customers. Michael and I spent the first hour or so playing with Mom and the twins. That included doing the playground with the twins while Mom talked with some other parents, and then we played some arcade games together; helping Ethan and Ehlana to win some tickets toward the prizes they eventually chose shortly before we needed to head back to the hotel.

Mom took them back to the playground again and set Michael and me free to do some of the activities that they couldn't. We started out on the rock climbing wall; went on the zip line twice; and played a round of laser tag before meeting Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana for a snack break. We had time for a round of mini-golf and a game of trampoline basketball after that before getting together again and doing one last blast through the arcade to earn more price tickets for my brother and sister. That still didn't add up to any major prizes for them, but we had fun; and they were happy enough with their little souvenirs.

When we got back to the hotel, Michael and I took care of Ethan and Ehlana again, and pretty much repeated our pre-dinner routine from yesterday – except that we didn't get dressed up for fine dining this time. We definitely needed the showers this time after the extreme afternoon play time, and with our evening at the movies plan; I definitely didn't want to be the wrong kind of fragrant tonight! Mom and Dad appreciated the alone time before dinner time a bit too much; but let's just pretend that I don't know that and move along.

We had a semi-fast food dinner at another diner-type restaurant near the movie theater because we didn't have much time to eat and make it to the early show times. There was enough time to give Dad most of the daily update and have him tell us what he could about his work day; but the meal was a bit of a blurred rush and then we were off and running again. Michael and I had our choice of going to see the Lego movie with Mom, Dad, and the twins or see something else, and though I was tempted to spend the time with them; we opted to see Need for Speed instead. I wouldn't dream of offending all of the people that flocked to the theaters to watch the Lego movie; so let's just say that it isn't something I'm at all interested in and leave it at that.

While Michael and I liked our movie choice better than our family-time show option; it was the getting to feel like we were on an actual date that was really great. As always, I love our home town and wouldn't change a thing about our life there; but teen boyfriend and girlfriend time does not feel like being on a date very often – except maybe for school dances and weddings. That changes once driving is an option, but Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I all have a few years to go before that'll be an option for us. Maybe I'll do something about that – the dating thing, not driving – and actually plan a date night now and then for us. Going out to a restaurant when my boyfriend's parents own the only one we can go to isn't exactly a date scenario, and movie theaters aren't an option in Witch Falls either; but picnics for two and bike rides or canoe trips do offer romantic possibilities we should explore more this summer.

That's a bit off-track, and while it's nice to think about; let's get back to the update – I need to get some sleep soon so I'll be ready for another fun, busy day tomorrow.

Need for Speed was about as advertised, and kept Michael and me entertained if not exactly stimulated from a thought-provoking perspective. The date-night feeling and cuddle time was the best part of that couple of hours; and then it was time to get back to the real world and meet up with Mom, Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana and head back to the hotel. Dad had work to do, but he and Mom took the twins with them to their room for their bedtime story and a visit while giving Michael and I an hour or so of alone time in my room. Since that was just about the only make-out opportunity we've had; I'm sure you won't be surprised to find out that we took full advantage of the opportunity. I also cheated just a bit so that we had more than that hour to play – at least from a time-phase perspective.

Go ahead and laugh, but I'm not the only Magi Master in Witch Falls to apply that particular talent to a romantic situation when 'real' time isn't available. Think back on your past if you know one or more Magi Masters in your lifetime; and you might even remember some moments when something like that happened. I'm not going to suggest that Mom didn't know that we were playing, because that's just silly; but I did make sure that Michael and I had time to compose ourselves before going across the hallway to collect our bed buddies when it was time to get them tucked in for the night.

That's pretty much the end of the news for today. Ehlana and I had another girl chat after doing the goodnight hugs and kisses and getting ready for bed. She's been sleeping for nearly an hour now while I've been doing some family business work along with the usual bedtime computing. Rowen and I had a text-chat too, and she's going to be at my house for a sleepover tomorrow night so that we can both hang out with Dawn and Jillian. Violet and Dillon will likely be at his house tomorrow night since they've been with her family for the past four days; but I'll at least get to spend some time with them while we do some shopping tomorrow before heading home again.

We haven't really missed all that much at home today, but I do wish that Michael and I could have gone biking with Rowen and Tim, and Michael would have had fun playing football with Tim and the other guys who are happily helping Kyle get ready to play college football.

By the way – so much for a major break from football – it's barely been more than a month since the Super Bowl; and yet here it is back in my journal news – even before baseball; which doesn't start for us at home until May! I'd better just get used to it; since there is zero chance that Tim won't be football-crazy for a very long time; and drag Michael along with him for the ride.

I didn't exactly want to end this report on that note, but that's probably better than writing about what Mom and Dad are probably doing now that his work is done for the night.

Oops. Gotta run; so...

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

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

We're back in Witch Falls again now, and while we had an amazing few days in the city; there really is no place like home for me – especially when we have extra family here to have fun with!

Fun was the word of the day – even for Michael, Dillon, and Ethan despite being outnumbered two-to-one while we were hanging out together and shopping at the Mall, Wal-Mart, and a couple of other places before we were ready to leave Crystal Springs and head for home. That started with Tai Chi at the hotel, and Mom and Dad joined in for that today. We had another pretty good crowd watching us by the time we were finished; and then the rush was on to take turns getting ready for the day and meet up again for another breakfast at the diner. While that was fun, and it'll only be two days before Dad's home again; it was still tough saying goodbye to him this morning and heading back to the hotel to pack, check-out, and get everything loaded into the minivan.

Violet and Dillon had already left Woodvale by then with Dawn and Jillian, but we had a bit of time before meeting up with them at the Mall; so Mom hit a couple of big box stores on the way to the Mall to get some of her supply-shopping done first – and leave us with a bit more play-shopping time later. We were having a snack break in the food court when our cousins caught up with us, so they took a break then too before we headed out into the Mall for some quality shopping fun. Dillon, Michael, and Ethan stayed with us for a while, but then they opted to do anything else other than sit around watching us shop for clothes; and did their own thing until we met up again for lunch at the food court.

I won't bore the guys reading this with the shopping details, but I really loved spending that time with Violet, Dawn, and Jillian; and the chat time was more important than the actual shopping. We didn't even really make very many purchases – just two or three things each. While we stopped to pick up a fast food fix for Aunt Leanne before leaving town, our lunch break was the last fast food fix that Michael, Ethan, Ehlana, and I are likely going to have for a while; so we picked up a few different things and had a mini pot-luck lunch of pizza, chicken strips and fries, and Chinese food. Dawn and Jillian thought that was funny, but then they have access to fast food anytime they feel the need.

We had time for a bit more shopping at the Mall after lunch, and then we made our last shopping stop at Wal-Mart for the rest of the supplies Mom needed to get – along with a few gift purchases that Michael, the twins, and I all needed to take care of for upcoming birthdays and other special occasions. The fast-food pick-up was our last chore before we hit the highway; and Michael and I got to do the trip home with Violet and Dillon while Dawn and Jillian went with Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana in the minivan. That's possibly the most uninterrupted time we'll get to have with them; and we had no problem keeping ourselves entertained for the hour and a half it took to get from the outskirts of the city to our driveway.

Violet and Dillon were sent down the street to deliver Aunt Leanne's food while the rest of us unpacked the minivan and Dawn and Jillian got their luggage out of Violet's car, but once that little blast of work was finished; Michael took his things home and then went on to the Inn to help out with the dinner rush there. Rowen came over to meet up with Dawn, Jillian, and me by the time Violet and Dillon got back from Aunt Leanne's house; but none of us stayed there very long before heading out again. Violet and Dillon went over to his house for the night, and Rowen got three helpers when she went over to her house to pack for our sleepover.

We made that a quick trip so that Rowen and I could help Mom with making dinner while Dawn and Jillian were entertained by Ethan and Ehlana. It was just the seven of us for dinner, but then we went for a walk that included visits with Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and Zack; Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace; and Grandma and Grandpa. By the time we were finished doing that, Michael was finished at the Inn; and he and Tim met up with us at my house to hang out for a few hours.

Getting Ethan and Ehlana off to bed was first on the to-do list, but they wanted Dawn and Jillian to do their bedtime story; so Rowen and I ended up getting a little time with just Michael and Tim in the lounge while that was going on. Once they had the twins tucked in for the night, Dawn and Jillian joined us upstairs and we mostly ended up chatting while not really watching television. That was a bit boring for Michael and Tim, though they were willing to deal with that in exchange for the cuddle time with their respective girlfriends.

The boys weren't bored with everything we talked about – they were happy to talk football when Tim and Rowen were telling us about their last few March Break days and as part of the discussion of our plans for the rest of the week. They're going to join in for the scrimmages that Kyle will be having tomorrow and Friday, and though that part of the plan wasn't particularly exciting for Dawn and Jillian; Rowen and I will make sure that they have fun anyway. We're also going to do some biking and maybe take the canoes out for a paddle.

Rowen, Dawn, Jillian, and I did take it easy on the boys by saving our girl chat time until after they went home for the night; but that still left a lot to catch up on – including comparing notes from school and everything we do when not in school. Dawn and Jillian are starting to hang out more with co-ed tween groups now; and that's one thing that is very different compared to here. They gather once or twice a week at their favorite Mall just because they can; and catch a movie no less than once every couple of weeks – again, usually with a group of friends. They're not currently 'dating' anyone, but they are sometimes paired up for those activities with specific guys. They're both feeling some peer pressure there, but they seem to be handling that fairly well. I seriously doubt that either of them will be in any danger of caving in to peer pressure – especially when they stick together. Living in a city may be different for a lot of things, but they're lucky enough to have the same kind of friendship that Rowen and I have – and they've been friends for a lot longer than we have.

I guess there isn't really much else to write about for that blast of fun through until Michael and Tim left; though Rowen and I had a bit more fun than Dawn and Jillian did thanks to the few minutes we each had alone with Michael and Tim when it was time for the goodnight hugs and kisses. Michael and I went out to the front porch for that while Rowen and Tim were in the living room; and Dawn and Jillian were deciding which of them was going to use my Jacuzzi first. There's a very good chance that Michael and I won't get much alone time while we have company here, so even a few minutes for a few goodnight kisses is appreciated.

The bright side for that is probably the opportunity to plan that part of our lives better for future holidays; which should make for even better best-ever moments for years to come!

Rowen and Tim gave us noisy notice of their impending arrival at the front door, so Michael was ready to leave when they joined us on the front porch – even though we would have liked to drag those moments out for an hour or so. Too bad that a time-phase wasn't an option for us tonight! The boys didn't need to hurry home, so Rowen and I only watched them until they got to Michael's house and obviously decided to have a little chat there before Tim went on to his house. Jillian was in the tub already by the time we got back up to my room, so we sat on the sofa in the lounge with Dawn and got started on some serious girl-chat that included the more interesting parts of Violet and Dillon's visit in Woodvale – from the perspective of a little sister.

That started about two and a half hours ago; and Dawn and Jillian only decided to try and get some sleep about a half hour ago. They've opted to crash in the lounge, and started a movie that they're already sleeping through while Rowen and I climbed into my bed with Mandy and have been quietly continuing our chat while I've been doing my bedtime computing. I don't have anything else newsworthy to write about for what we've been doing, but I should mention that Christina and Josiah made it home earlier this afternoon too. We haven't seen them yet, but I'm sure we will tomorrow; and they'll probably be here for our Friday night, family dinner and a movie plans. I only had one little family business job to deal with tonight, so it didn't really take long to get everything else done and start on this update.

While I've had a blast today, it is late; and I need to get started on my nap time so I'll be ready for the early morning Tai Chi call that I'm sure Ethan and Ehlana will be ready for – especially since they went to sleep more than five hours ago. We're also supposed to have a really nice, warm day tomorrow too; so it should be perfect play day weather for everything we want to do. Michael's going to be at the Inn to help out there for lunch and dinner; but Rowen and Tim are both free to play for the rest of the week if they want to do that – except for normal chores, of course.

I don't know if we'll be able to top the excitement of our city adventures during the last half of our holiday; but we will do our best to have fun while we play with our family and friends between now and Sunday. With that in mind, I'm out of here; so...

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

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Happy 11th Birthday, Scott!

I had no involvement at all in Scott's birthday fun today – other than the gift that Rowen, Tim, Michael, and I got for him; and Rowen took care of getting it to him for us. We did see Patrick and Scott around town a couple of times today, but they were busy with their friends; and didn't even stop to talk with us.

There was more than one reason for that, and though they've gotten used to the fact that Rowen and I both have boyfriends now; it seems to be something that Patrick and Scott both think about more around this time of year when they each 'catch up' to us again and are only two years younger than we are. I think that was an even bigger deal for Scott in particular today because of having Dawn and Jillian here. They're about halfway between us in age, and though that only makes Patrick and Scott one year younger than them despite being two grades behind my cousin and her friend; Dawn and Jillian are into the tween growth spurt that's left Rowen's brother and best friend looking like kids by comparison. Seeing that difference between Rowen and me, Dawn and Jillian, and them was something that I could tell affected both boys.

I've usually only thought about my age from the perspective of being one of the youngest in my grade. Scott and Patrick obviously have the opposite problem with being among the oldest thanks to their March and April birthdays. That bothers them with situations like they have with Rowen and me, but I think that they might appreciate the advantages a bit more in the not to distant future – particularly when the girls their own age hit their big, tween growth spurt stage and their enough older to not fall too far behind the girls in their class. The taller guys in our class definitely had an advantage with the girls then; and felt less-awkward than the guys who had to deal with temporarily being several inches shorter than most of the girls their age.

This update is meandering around a bit, but before I try to get back on track, I'll also mention that Patrick and Scott weren't the only guys noticing Dawn and Jillian today. That fact might scare their fathers, considering how things are working out for Violet and Dillon; but I doubt that they actually have anything to worry about. Dawn and Jillian enjoyed the attention and even flirted a bit while we were watching the football scrimmage at the school football field this afternoon. That was almost as strange for me to see guys that I know taking that kind of notice of Dawn as it was the first year Rebecca, Jenny, and some of the other girls started hanging out with Chris and Martin the first summer after they'd crossed over.

That thought does lead me down another little side trip involving two of my classmates. Gretchen and Elliott have broken up this week. There's some ambiguity about whether it's 'official' or not yet, but since Elliott was one of the guys taking notice of my cousin today in a way that strongly suggested he considers himself a single man again; I don't think that it matters whether their break up is official or not. I've mentioned their deteriorating relationship before, and didn't expect Gretchen to be all that upset about her change in social status; but I gave Sally a call just to be sure – and then invited both of them to our dinner, movie, and sleepover night tomorrow.

That's going to be yet another late night for me, and it's already late now; so I'd better move this report along so I can get some rest and be ready for another day of fun and excitement.

Michael ended up skipping Tai Chi so that he could help with the breakfast rush at the Inn instead – and get a bit more time during the day to spend with us. While Tai Chi for four was still nice, I missed the good morning hugs and kisses. Mom, Rowen, and I cooked up a pancakes and bacon breakfast, and then we were also on the clean-up crew with Dawn and Jillian while Mom got Ethan and Ehlana ready for a bonus play day at KidZone with their friends. That was mostly so that Mom could have a catch-up work day, and she was also running errands all morning so that she didn't have to do groceries and supply shopping on Friday. We were set free for the day once the kitchen was clean; with our only instructions being to be at the Inn for lunch with Grandma and Grandpa and then home by no later than six for the dinner part of our evening entertainment plans.

Rowen temporarily split up with us then so that she could take her overnight bag home; grab her bike; and deliver Scott's birthday present on her way to get Tim before meeting up with us again at the Inn. Dawn, Jillian, and I helped Mom with getting the twins into the minivan, and once they'd left; we got three bikes out of the storage barn and had time for a ride around the new section of town on our way to the Inn. There really hadn't been all that much visible progress there since the last time Dawn had seen it, and Aunt Grace and Uncle Mark were both out when we rode past their place so she couldn't see either of them again; but they still liked getting to see everything again and it gave us something to do while waiting for Rowen and Tim – and for Michael to finish up at the Inn so he could hang out with us too.

It's been a really great weather day, and once we were together and ready to go; we spent the entire morning riding our bikes except for a stop at the Emporium to get snacks and our break to have those drinks and munchies at the falls. This time, we biked south into the valley and did a big country loop that covered about fifteen miles. That part of our ride was first, and after our break; we biked over to the park and rode the mail trail there after checking out the lab and medical center construction sites. We did some teen socializing at the park too; and that pretty much took care of the rest of the time we had until needing to go back to the Inn for lunch.

While Grandma and Grandpa were hosting the lunch specifically to spend time with Violet, Dillon, Dawn, and Jillian; they'd invited the cousins too; so we had a fairly large group. Since my cousins and their friends were sitting with my grandparents while we ate, Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I took care of Ethan, Ehlana, Zack, and Leah so that our parents could enjoy the meal too along with a bit of adult chat time. That was an hour-long blast of fun, and then we were set free again to play for the afternoon.

Dawn wanted to go canoeing, so we biked over to my house and put three canoes in the water before heading upriver. We could safely paddle for forty-five minutes before needing to turn around and head back so the boys would have time to get to Kyle's football scrimmage; and we spent the entire hour and a half enjoying the first canoe trip for any of us of the year. The water was still very, very cold; but we didn't even have any close calls with getting dunked in the river – though Tim joked about it a few times. Michael and Tim stayed long enough to make sure we got all of the canoes back into the storage barn and then they went on to the school ahead of the rest of us while Rowen and I took care of the rest of the gear – paddles, life jackets, and the little cooler bag we'd taken along for drinks.

By the time we got to the football field, the scrimmage had already started; and there was a pretty good crowd of teens watching the action. Kyle had a good turnout of players too, though that included some of the younger guys like Michael and Tim; and meant that they couldn't play full-tackle without worrying about injuring them. I know that Tim wants to make the team as a freshman this coming season, but if he and Michael do get to play; I hope there aren't any guys playing against them who are as big and fast as Kyle is – especially since I wouldn't be able to get away with healing them of any major injuries.

A bit surprisingly, that hour and a half was one of the best parts of the day for me. Getting to watch Michael and Tim do pretty well keeping up with the mostly bigger guys was entertaining – especially when they each had a couple of moments when they did a lot more than keep up while scoring touchdowns. The action on the sidelines was where the real entertainment; though there were dashes here and there of teen weird too.

Seeing the guys checking out Dawn and Jillian was part of the weird, but so was seeing Jenny acting a bit too chummy with Joel. They weren't doing anything improper, but Jenny sure had some eyebrows raised, and while Garth wasn't at the scrimmage; I have no doubt that one of his football buddies has mentioned it to him by now. He won't be happy to hear that his girlfriend was spending so much time with one of her ex-boyfriends, and from some of the stories we heard today; she's spent a fair bit of time with Joel while Garth's been spending most of his March Break helping out at his family farm and greenhouses.

That wasn't the only teen drama going on around us, and that was almost entirely due to visiting teens mingling with locals. It isn't as if that dynamic is new to me; but it does sometimes leave me baffled at the games that get played. Peer pressure and showing off always seem to kick up a few notches when there are new kids and teens around to try and impress – or at least overcome our small town image.

While Rowen, Dawn, Jillian, and I had fun chatting with the other girls and commenting on both the football action and the guys who were more interested in girl-watching than in the game; we were also ready to head for home again when Michael needed to leave for the dinner shift at the Inn. That put us back at home early, but Violet, Ehlana, and Naomi were there with Mom, and we found out that Ethan was hanging out with Aiden so that we could have a girls-only dinner.

I'm sure that Tim was glad that he'd stayed for bonus football time instead when he found out about that; though he and Michael weren't going to hang out with us this evening anyway.

It was still very warm by then, so Mom decided to fire up the grill and cook some chicken to go with a veggie and rice casserole and Olde Bakery buns and dessert; so Violet, Rowen, and I helped with the work while Dawn and Jillian played with Ehlana and Naomi in the yard. We ate, cleaned up, and then went for a walk to the park; where we eventually gave Naomi back to her father and collected Ethan from the Drapers. Violet and Dillon had plans with some of their friends then, so Violet headed out again shortly after we got home; and Rowen, Dawn, Jillian, and I came up to the lounge to watch a movie.

Rowen stayed for that, but then she went home when we took a break to help do the bedtime story for Ethan and Ehlana; and get them tucked into their beds for the night. Dawn and Jillian were up for more movies; so we got ready for bed and then flaked out on the sofa in the lounge again to start a mini-marathon. Jillian lasted through one more show, but then fell asleep shortly after the start of the next one; and Dawn crashed about mid-way through that movie. I left them in the lounge after that and climbed into my own bed. Mandy had briefly considered getting up from where she was sleeping next to Jillian and joining me; but decided the effort wasn't worth it and went back to sleep instead.

I had some family business work to do, and my nightly computing took a bit longer than I'd expected because of that; so it's now past one-thirty. Rowen wasn't online, but I did have a chat with Michael before he went off to sleep; and it sounds as though they had a busy night at the Inn – even without game night. We're running out of March Break time way too fast now, but we still have another two full days of fun ahead before Dawn and Jillian will need to head home on Sunday – and Violet, Dillon, Christina, and Josiah leave for college again too.

We didn't really get to spend any time with Christina or Josiah today; but at least we will see them tomorrow night when they're here with Violet and Dillon – and Christina and Violet are doing the girls' sleepover with us too. Our plans for the daytime hours tomorrow aren't all that much different from today; though Rowen, Dawn, Jillian, and I are going to do a bit of shopping in the morning while Michael and Tim are busy. Biking, canoeing, and football will likely be pretty much the same as today except for different destinations.

I guess that's it for tonight, and while I missed out on good morning and good night kisses with Michael today, everything else was really great; and tomorrow is going to be even better! I'm off to dreamland now, so, until next time...

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

Friday, March 21, 2014

The big news around the family doesn't come from here in Witch Falls today. Chris and Martin have a car; and picked it up today. Dawn and Violet have mixed feelings about that; but it's probably scarier for Uncle Rick and Aunt Melissa. I didn't hear if Chris or Martin have any issues with getting a used car when Violet had been given a new one; but I'm sure that most of their friends will be impressed enough with a five-year old Chevy Malibu.

Then again, it might be less-scary than letting the boys drive their vehicles! ;^)

We didn't stop in at Landry's and make any vehicle purchases; but it's still been one of those really great days. Michael came over for Tai Chi this morning; but then went home and got ready for a work at home and the Inn morning. I helped Mom with making breakfast, cleaning up, and getting Ethan and Ehlana ready for a second day in a row at KidZone before getting ready for the day too and heading out with Dawn and Jillian on our bikes. We met up with Rowen at her house and then we went for a little ride around town before parking our bikes in front of the Emporium and going shopping for a couple of hours.

My feelings about shopping at the stores in our little town have changed in the years since Mom and I moved here, but not because of teen boredom or anything – it's mostly because I've become so close to most of the people that own or work at those businesses. Whether that's because of practically being related to some – like Uncle Adam's parents at the Emporium – or having friends and classmates that are cousins of other store owners; the inside of every store feels like home. You don't get that sensation at a Mall; where every chain store is practically identical in any city you visit. That convenience has some important advantages, but it isn't personal.

We stopped in and had our morning snack break with Aunt Leanne and Claire. While my aunt usually works from home nearly half the time now and leaves running the office to Claire, she also puts in more time on the weeks that Dad's in the city; and they've both been busy this week with people wanting to talk houses and visit the model home, apartment, or townhome while on March Break. I should mention here that they have a new model home to show off in the new section of town now because the Green's will be moving into the first one they'd used at the end of the month. The new place isn't on the river, but it is closer to what the average house will be like – three-to-five bedroom family homes that are modern and efficient while still fitting in with the 'old' parts of town and in price ranges that will work for a lot of families.

We didn't buy any houses today either, but Aunt Leanne and Claire did appreciate the Olde Bakery treats and Emporium drinks that we supplied for our snack break; and we had fun chatting with them. After doing that, we went for a longer bike ride north of town and out along the river before going home again in time to have lunch with Mom, Violet, and Dillon. I didn't ask about it, but I'm fairly sure that they took advantage of the empty house this morning to do a Magi lesson. Violet can do a lot of her training on her own now – or with Dillon; but she'll still need to do lessons with Mom now and then when they can make time for them for several more years at least before she's where other Magi teens her age are now with upwards of fifteen years more training time than she's had. Being trained by a Magi Master makes up for some of that; but not nearly all.

We had a little picnic by the river for lunch, and then we had our first sleepover guest arrive while we cleaned up and waited for Michael and Tim to join us for another canoe ride. Claire had run out to the farm for lunch and brought Emma back with her so that she could spend the afternoon with us too. Violet and Dillon had other plans for the afternoon, but they helped us with getting three canoes into the water before leaving; and we had everything else ready to go by the time Michael and Tim met up with us by the river.

Our ride on the water didn't end up being very long this time because we paddled down to the turnaround point near the falls and back, but we were gone nearly the same amount of time as yesterday because we stopped at the park to hang out and chat with some of our friends there for nearly half of the time we were gone. There was still time to put two out of three of the canoes away before Michael and Tim needed to be at the school for another football scrimmage; and the third one was left tied to the dock at Mom's request in case anyone wanted to go for a ride before or after dinner tonight. Michael and Tim still went on ahead of the rest of us again, but that was mostly because I wanted to make another visit to the Emporium for drinks and snacks before we met up with them at the school football field.

We had extra friends to hang out with today while we were there because Sally and Gretchen got rides into town with Sally's brothers. While most of the 'farm kid' guys hadn't been able to come to most of Kyle's scrimmages this week, almost all of them had been allowed to take part of the afternoon off today to catch the last one of the holiday. Emma hadn't said anything, and apparently hadn't known; but her older brother, Lucas, had come into town to play too.

I haven't seen Lucas play football very much, but he's surprisingly strong for his size – probably from working with his father on the farm. He's also nearly as fast as Michael and Tim are; and that discovery surprised more than a few of the guys out on the field today – including our team's current top running back, Caleb Palmer. Since most of the guys were playing both offense and defense, Caleb found that out by underestimating Lucas and getting beat three times before making some adjustments that evened the match-up between them.

Michael and Tim didn't have the element of surprise with the other guys anymore, but they still did pretty well; and they showed that smaller and faster does have some advantages – even when their quarterback couldn't come up with the throws to match their speed. The bad news for them was that a bad throw usually put them at risk of getting crunched by the defensive guys – even with them playing light contact. Then again, a light hit from Kyle Landry is like getting hit by a compact car – at least according to Tim. He doesn't want to find out what a full-speed hit from his cousin feels like.

We've all seen the players on the other teams after games last season; so we don't really need to guess how tough those hits are. There are going to be some college players finding out all about that next season; and I really hope for their sake that they don't underestimate Kyle too much.

There was, of course, more teen weird happening around the game, and while I don't want to pick on Jenny; she earned a fair bit of attention again today because Garth and Joel were both there. Once again, it isn't as though Jenny and Joel were doing anything together that was improper exactly, and I guess did at least act the same around Joel while Garth was there as she had when he wasn't; but that doesn't change the fact that it still felt wrong to me. Jenny had to know that Garth was hurt and angry no matter how hard he tried to hide it; and I think I'll just skip commenting on Joel's reaction. He obviously still has a thing for Jenny, so that wasn't surprising; but it wasn't nice to sense or watch.

Sometimes being so empathic is not at all fun.

Sally and Gretchen had their overnight bags with them, so we went straight back to my house after the football fun was over for the day. Michael headed to the Inn again, and though he'd normally have Friday night off, holiday rules apply this week; and he was helping out through the dinner rush. He didn't end up needing to stay for the entire clean-up; so at least he was able to come over for the movie part of our dinner and a movie night. Tim eventually joined us in time for dinner too; but he'd gone home to grab a shower and change first – and checked in with his parents at the shop.

By the time we got home, Mom had lots of helpers in the kitchen and outside working the grills. Ethan and Ehlana had brought Aiden and Naomi home with them after KidZone; and Rowen and I were put in charge of the four toddlers – though we had lots of help with keeping them entertained. That included doing a lot of running around; playing by the river; and even taking them for little canoe rides in pairs while most of the adults were busy with the cooking and dining room set-up. We had a full house for dinner, including grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and some friends of all ages; though not everyone stayed for the entire evening.

That meant that we needed to use the kitchen table too, and though Tim was the only guy with seven teen and tween girls; he didn't seem to mind being so outnumbered. Rowen wasn't sure how to feel about that, but while he may not know it for sure yet; I have no doubt that she has him hooked for good already so she has nothing to worry about from any other girls – even if he is outgoing to the point that he seems to be flirting sometimes.

Mom had put together a fairly large assortment of food options that ranged from steaks and chicken to cold salads and veggie and dip trays. Tim was the only teen at our table to opt for one of the steaks while the rest of us either went with grilled chicken, burgers, or jumbo hot dogs for our meat choices. There were bowls and platters of everything in the dining room, but we had a buffet set-up on the counter in the kitchen instead of piling everything onto the smaller kitchen table. That meant needing to get up for seconds, but saved us from passing everything around – and Tim was the only one of us to return to the counter for third and fourth helpings anyway; not including the dessert round.

Since I'm so often put in charge of Ethan and Ehlana during big dinners, it was a nice change to spend that hour or so with my cousin and friends instead; and we had lots to talk about – especially with Sally, Gretchen, and Emma. We tried not to bore Tim too much while we mostly talked about girl-stuff related to our collective adventures this week; but then he wasn't nearly as bored as he pretended to be. He did get some occasional support from Dillon, Josiah, or one of the adult guys stopping in to the kitchen now and then for various reasons; so he wasn't stuck with us on his own the entire time; but I did wish that Michael could have been here for dinner too.

That might have been for the best, though. Gretchen may not be all that upset about breaking up with Elliott this week, but I did catch her looking a bit wistful now and then when she saw one of the teen couples holding hands or cuddling together tonight. That's the main reason why Sally decided not to invite Joshua to come for the dinner and a movie part of the night; but having Dawn, Jillian, and Emma there without guys helped too.

While I didn't have to help out with making dinner, I was on the clean-up crew. Rowen opted to help me, but Tim and the rest of the girls were all recruited to go over to the park and play with the younger kids there. Sophia Bassett had been added to that little group; and she's staying with Ehlana and Naomi for the sleepover tonight too. Rowen and I had help with the work from most of the guys, and Violet and Christina stayed to help out too while the Moms and Grandmothers were set free to either take care of babies or go along to the park too.

Rowen and I went to the park once the work was done, and caught the tail-end of the play time there before it was time to head back home again to watch our movie – or the first one for those of us in the lounge that were also staying overnight. Michael met up with me on the walk back; so I was an especially happy camper for the next few hours while we were able to hang out together – and cuddle during the movie. Dad managed to get home while snacks and drinks were being put together too, so we didn't even end up doing a homecoming intermission with him this week.

The movie-time decision tonight was to have the adults do a toddler-rated movie in the living room and keep Ethan, Ehlana, and their friends downstairs so that we – the teens – could watch something a bit more exciting than a cartoon. That ended up being another showing of 'Frozen' in the living room, which some of the adults hadn't even seen yet, and while the movie we picked had all of the elements of the standard Hollywood action flick; I wouldn't dream of suggesting that it was a better movie than Frozen – because it wasn't. It was fun, sometimes funny, and allowed us to chat together while still keeping up with the action and plot, though; so it was perfect fare for a group of tweens and teens.

We did have an intermission after the movie that included saying goodbye to some of our guests and doing bedtime stories for five toddlers. Ehlana, Naomi, and Sophia also had some hair play time with Violet and Christina before going to bed too; but Michael and I took care of getting the five boys and girls tucked in for the night – with Michael taking care of Ethan and Aiden while I had some girl chat fun with Ehlana and her friends. Mom and Dad were on their own by then, and went to bed; but Dillon, Josiah, Michael, and Tim stayed for a bit less than another hour before deciding that it was time for them to leave – at almost exactly the same time that we – the girls- cued up the first chick flick of the night.

Four of us missed the start of that show while saying goodnight to our boyfriends – or even walking them home and then coming back again like Violet and Christina did; but sharing that time with our guys was worth what bit of girl-time fun we missed out on in the lounge.

I have been thinking a lot about some Sunday afternoon alone time with Michael once our guests are gone home or back to college; but we'll see if that's an option – there will be a lot of work to do around here then too; so that might not be an option.

While we have too many girls here tonight for Jacuzzi sharing to work very well, Violet and Christina did lead a mini-makeover play time while we watched that first chick flick; and we had so much fun talking about everything from school and shopping to boyfriends, parents, and siblings. I won't get into all of that here, but I will mention that Gretchen feels a lot better and happier now; and Christina in particular had a lot to do with that thanks to her comments and advice while Gretchen had told us some of the details about how things ended with Elliott.

A second chick flick was put on, but Violet and Christina opted to go to bed then because they both have a busy weekend ahead of them – including very long drives to go back to school on Sunday. Dawn, Jillian, and Emma are crashing on the sofa in the lounge together, but Sally, Gretchen, Rowen, and I stayed with them and watched the movie – though Emma and Jillian both fell asleep before it was over; and Dawn dozed on and off during the last half-hour or so even though she was awake at the end when the rest of us were straightening up before heading to bed.

Sally and Gretchen had the option of two bedrooms on the second floor, but had decided to bunk together in the guest room by the back stairs on the third floor that Jillian had pretty much just used for a change room since getting here on Wednesday. Rowen and I sent them across the hall with goodnight hugs, and then climbed into my bed with Mandy. My cat had moved onto my bed earlier after deciding that our movie and chat fun was getting in the way of her sleep.

Rowen and I have been chatting quietly since then while I've been doing my usual nightly computer checks, but she's starting to doze off now; and I'm ready to crash for a few hours now too. I'm going to have some chores to do in the morning after my friends head home; but then I'll have the rest of the day off to hang out with Dawn and Jillian for their last full day before they head home after church on Sunday.

That reminds me that Mom and Dad don't need to worry about another trip to Crystal Springs on Sunday because Aunt Grace and Uncle Mark are going to take Dawn and Jillian half-way home – mostly so that they get a chance to have a visit with Uncle Rick and Aunt Melissa. That plan was in the works for a few days, but I didn't hear about the final decision until dinnertime tonight. Dawn's very happy about getting to have a few hours with Aunt Grace – something she didn't get to do while she's been here.

Okay, that's really enough for tonight; or I'll soon be writing the rest of this in my sleep.

Yes, I probably could do that, but then I'd also likely end up deleting most of it – especially if I subconsciously detailed any dreams involving Michael and me!

That's a nice thought – the Michael and me dreams; not voyeuristic journal updates. I think I'll put this computer away and explore those dream possibilities now, so...

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

Saturday, March 22, 2014

We've had a comparatively quiet day, and I'll have my earliest night getting to sleep this week; but there's been enough fun happening too that it hasn't been a bad way to wind down our holiday.

Part of the reason for the drop in action was the simple fact that the temperature was only into the forties today instead of the sixties and seventies we've enjoyed for most of the past five days. That would have been great compared to the near-zero temperatures of not that long ago; but now we all want it to be spring every day. The weather wasn't a big deal while we were indoors for Tai Chi and a big country breakfast, but it didn't make the yard work for Dad and me very much fun.

Michael came over for both Tai Chi and breakfast; though that earned him some teasing from the other girls – particularly Sally and Gretchen. Knowing that he was learning Tai Chi too apparently wasn't the same thing as seeing Michael and me exercising together with Mom, Dad, Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden while walking between their bedroom and the guest bathroom in nightshirts. For some reason that was a bigger deal to them for Michael than it was for Ethan and Aiden – or even Dad for that matter. I wonder why? ;^)

So Tai Chi and breakfast made for an entertaining couple of hours, and then it was time for me to get to work while my friends got ready to go home and Dawn and Jillian were free to hang out with them and then do their own thing once Rowen, Sally, Gretchen, and Emma had left. Violet gave the three country kids a ride out to their farms; and then she moved on to Dillon's house while Christina left at the same time for Josiah's house. I worked about half of the time with Dad and the rest with Mom around the house; but then I was set free to grab a shower shortly before they were stopping to make lunch.

We'd finished eating and cleaning up again by the time Michael, Tim, and Rowen came over to hang out with Dawn, Jillian, and me for the afternoon; and we ended up going for a bike ride out to the caves. The ride out there was a bit cold with the wind in our faces, but the caving was fun – especially when we had to deal with a fair bit of snow still in the entrance of one of them before we could go exploring. Another cave had a small occupant, so we stayed out of it after hearing the excitedly chattered warning, and though it was small; none of us wanted to take any chances in a dark cave.

The ride back to town was nicer with the wind at our backs, and we made it home in time for hot chocolate and a snack before Michael needed to get back to the Inn and Rowen and Tim left to spend the evening with his parents – along with some quality alone time. I wish that Michael and I could have done that too – well, not with Tim's parents; but you know what I mean. Instead of doing that, I helped Mom cook dinner for seven, and after helping with the clean-up; Dawn, Jillian, and I played with Ethan and Ehlana for a couple of hours before starting to take turns in my Jacuzzi at about the same time that Mom was ready to do the bed and bath routine with the twins.

Violet and Dillon are spending the night here, but they'd been out for dinner with his family and then visited some more friends before coming home. Michael came over after finishing up at the Inn in time that we could do the bedtime story for Ethan and Ehlana, and then once they were tucked in for the night; we headed up to the lounge to hang out with Dawn – and with Jillian too once she'd finished her turn in the tub. I gave her lots of warning and closed the doors between the lounge and my bedroom, so there wasn't any weirdness for her or Michael; but she still blushed fairly brightly for a while after coming into the lounge. Dawn didn't seem to care in the slightest whether Michael saw her in a nightshirt and robe, but I'm sure that Jillian had at least thought about dressing in normal clothes again. The decision not to probably had more to do with whether she had extra clean clothes to do that with or not; but by then it was too late for me to offer to lend her something from my closet.

We watched a musical tonight, and the most fun of that for me – other than cuddling with Michael for an hour and a half or so – was catching Dawn and Jillian each staring at us when they heard us singing along and sometimes making up our own harmonies on the fly. They haven't been here for any of our public duets before, and though they didn't say anything about it to us; it was obvious that they were impressed. The fact that Michael loves musicals as much as I do might have been a surprise to them too; since I doubt that Chris, Martin, or their buddies stop their video gaming marathons to watch Grease or Rent.

Michael went home after the show, though he might not be sleeping very well tonight after finding out that I was planning on getting naked and hopping into the Jacuzzi for my turn as soon as he was gone. I guess that's okay, since I've sure been thinking about how much we both would have enjoyed having some clothing-optional alone time together instead of being alone in our own rooms.

We should probably do something about that before we get in trouble for getting caught making out somewhere – like at school, the Inn, or the church.

Just kidding, Moms and Dads! ;^)

Anyway, I've had my soak in the tub and have been working on my computer since climbing into bed with Mandy because Dawn and Jillian were both sleeping by the time I got out of the bathroom. Violet and Dillon have come home since then, but I didn't bother them; and don't need to think about them snuggled together in the next room while enjoying the last night they'll be able to do that until the end of the semester – unless they do a hotel sleepover some weekends between now and then. We'll be in for one of those crazy-busy mornings tomorrow, but then it should be quiet for the rest of the day around here – especially since Dad will have lots of work to get done to be ready for the coming week back in the office.

There isn't anything important to include here from my computer checks and email, and I didn't have any family business work that needed to be finished tonight; so that's all I have for this update. Until next time...

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

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Our last day of March Break has really felt like a wind-down compared to the rest of the week – from the continuing drop in temperature to the lower fun levels as we get ready to return to 'normal' life again in the morning.

I'm already back into that mode now after doing my usual school night studies and work; but the day started out just as crazily as I'd expected it would. Michael came over for Tai Chi and breakfast again so that he could spend a little more time with Violet, Dillon, Dawn, and Jillian before they'd be leaving after church; and that entire few hours was a non-stop blur of activity. It's a good thing that we started out with the calming influence of Tai Chi, because I didn't stop running after that. While Michael helped Dad with cooking breakfast, I took a turn grabbing a shower, got ready for church, helped Dawn and Jillian pack, and we all had a bit of hair and make-up time before stopping to eat. The breakfast conversation was almost entirely about travel plans and getting ready to go back to school, college, or work in the morning; and I couldn't help feeling a bit sad even while it was still a fairly entertaining, if short, break. I was on the clean-up crew, and Michael went home then to get ready for church too before meeting up with us there.

We needed to pack Violet's car and put Dawn and Jillian's luggage in the minivan right before we left; and then Dad and Violet both drove over to the church – partly because it was cold this morning, and so that Aunt Grace and Uncle Mark didn't need to take a side-trip to our house to get Dawn and Jillian's bags. Since we'd had them overnight, Violet and Dillon sat with his parents, and Dawn and Jillian went with them so that Dawn could be with Violet for that last little while – both of them really feeling the impending separation that would keep them apart until Violet and Dillon finished their first year of college in May.

I was feeling that too by the time we were set free from Sunday school. The service had gone a bit long, so Michael had needed to head over to the Inn right away. I would have felt a little better if he'd been able to stay with me while everyone in my family – and most of Dillon's – gathered to say goodbye to my cousins, Dillon, and Jillian. Dad and Uncle Mark did the luggage transfer while the rest of us were busy with goodbye hugs and kisses, and then way before I was ready for it; Uncle Mark and Violet had their respective cars heading up Quarry Road, turned right onto Witch Falls Road, and then they were out of sight.

It seemed very quiet at home when we got back there – especially since it was just Mom, Dad, and me because Ethan and Ehlana were spending the afternoon with Aiden and Naomi respectively. Mom and Dad were happy to accept those offers because they both had a lot of work to get done today – Dad to get ready for work; and Mom to return the house to some semblance of normal after having guests for the past four nights. I helped out with the work on the third floor after we also made lunch and cleaned the kitchen so that Dad could concentrate on his work instead.

That kept my busy until Rowen and Tim came over to do one last little blast of homework with Michael and me. Michael wasn't far behind them after being set free for a few hours from the Inn, and we got the homework out of the way first before playing video games and chatting about a few of the upcoming events we have over the next four weeks between now and Easter. We'll have another round of study modules starting tomorrow, and a big push to get through them before we get distracted with the usual activities surrounding Easter.

We don't actually have anything major on the schedule for the next couple of weeks – unless you include Tim's musings about potential practical jokes for April Fools' Day. There are quite a few birthdays coming up in April, including Michael's brother and Rowen's father and brother – along with some classmates and friends; but Jake's in New York, Patrick is having a party with his buddies that Rowen and I are going to stay out of the way for, and I don't expect to get invitations to the next couple of classmate birthday parties.

Spring clean-up weekends are in our collective future, though, and tax season is here too; so keeping busy won't be a problem for us. There are other things coming up now that I couldn't talk about with my three best friends today; but we have another family business and future plans meeting tomorrow night; so I'll do an update on that then.

As far as the rest of my day, though, I went with Michael to the Inn and helped out with the buffet rush until my own family came to the Inn for the late buffet. Mom and Dad were regaining custody of the twins while having dinner with my grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and some friends. Michael was allowed to join us once the second buffet was out and most of the cooking was almost done, but he ate quickly and then went back to the kitchen right away because they were a bit short-handed tonight.

I considered helping out after dinner too, but Miranda told me to go home with my family instead; knowing that I'd just work later tonight to make up the time if I did stay at the Inn until closing. Dad had more work to do in the office, and Mom and I did a Magi lesson while he worked and Ethan and Ehlana did some studying for their college courses. We also had a little chat together instead of a bedtime story for the twins so that Mom could bring us up to speed on some news that she hadn't discussed while Dawn and Jillian were here.

She really had some fun over the past few days. Christina had the Magi chat with her; Violet accepted Aunt Grace's summer intern job offer; Dillon took the lab job that Uncle Adam presented to him; and Andrew Jennings was thrilled with his new summer job that will have him setting up computer systems at the lab with Mom and Owen – and pay way better than anything he's done before now. Christina got a job offer too, but that was from her aunt and uncle; and she'll be working at the Emporium. Mom's going to start getting her involved in the family business too, but that will be on the side; and Christina doesn't really care about what job she'll have – just that she'll be here with Josiah. I don't think it's been finalized, but I'm fairly sure that Christina will stay with Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne. Aunt Deborah and Uncle Nick are an option too, but she'll have enough on her plate with work, Leah, and her pregnancy – even with having Uncle Nick off from school for most of the summer too.

As I mentioned, I'll cover the rest of the future plans news tomorrow. The rest of my night was all work, and even without staying later at the Inn; I still needed to use a bit of Magi power to get my studies and work done and still be ready to go to sleep before midnight. The only news from any of that worth mentioning comes via my email inbox. Dawn and Jillian had fun with Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace; went out for lunch and a bit of shopping after meeting up with Uncle Rick and Aunt Melissa; and then had dinner at Jillian's house with both sets of parents while Chris and Martin were busy with some friends trying desperately(according to Dawn) to get their holiday assignments finished.

I guess they spent too much time looking for cars and then playing with their new toy to have time for the assignments before the last minute.

Stephanie sent me her usual weekly update too, and she and Jake had an amazing week together – even with all of the work they also had to deal with. I needed to read between the lines to get to 'amazing'; but I don't mind not knowing some of the details that made their week so special. Violet and Christina each sent short notes just to let me know that they – and Dillon and Josiah – had gotten back to their campuses safely. There's some crazy cramming going on with other students and friends in their residential halls; but they're all ready to go for morning classes and the long push through to freshman finals in May.

That's pretty much it, and I can get to sleep before midnight if I hurry; so, until next time...

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

Monday, March 24, 2014

It's official now, so congratulations again, Aunt Deborah, Uncle Nick, and Leah – you're going to have a baby!

That news hit the school grapevine in our classroom first when Aunt Deborah stopped in to give Uncle Nick – Mr. Ayres – the news flash after getting the results from Uncle Adam; picking up Leah from KidZone for a little break; and getting some flowers for her and Uncle Nick at Green's on the way over. While Mr. Ayres got teased about that, I was definitely teased more for hugging and kissing the teacher, his wife, and daughter. I was let off from a trip to the Principal's office with just a verbal warning, but even that still went viral; and it was soon common knowledge that Cassie Proctor actually got in trouble for the first time.

If it was April first tomorrow, I'd be seriously tempted to stay home and see how long it took for everyone to speculate on whether or not I'd been expelled!

That was the big news around my family today, but the big news for the entire town was probably the groundbreaking on the Solar-Wind Farm project. 'Groundbreaking' isn't really quite fair, since the old Quarry site we're using for it has already had some fairly extensive preparation for the construction that will be going on there; but the actual dig for the extensive facilities started today. Blake Sheldon is on the job there now too, and from what Mom told us at our meeting tonight; he's seriously fired up about the new job and challenges that will take full advantage of his particular skills and expertise.

While it felt more like winter than spring today, the landscaping and exterior finishing for the lab started today too. Both jobs are going to take most of the spring and summer; but should also be finished well-ahead of opening the lab in September. In the new section of town, two home construction starts are of particular note because they're for the young families of two of the primary construction company owners. Carter Construction has needed to grow a lot to take on all of the work, and so has Byrd Plumbing. Two of the riverfront properties are theirs, and the new homes are especially important to Ethan and Ehlana because two of their KidZone and church nursery friends, Carolyn Carter and Jennifer Byrd, will be living in those new houses with their families by sometime in August.

Since I'm already covering a lot of the news from our future plans meeting tonight, let's just stay on that before backing up to do the rest of the daily recap.

I wrote about the most important job offers for some of my favorite college teens last night, but there were – and are – other offers being made to help with everything from the solar-wind farm to retail and construction jobs. We'll even have a few teen gardeners helping out with the greenhouse at the lab; though that will be more for getting everything set up and won't involve all that much actual gardening. That'll come as the research kicks into high gear in September.

Witch Falls has the new interior design business opening the week before Easter, and while that has absolutely nothing to do with us directly; I've already mentioned that there are lots of people who are excited to have the new service for both new homes and older ones that will be changing hands over the next decade or more. It's too cold to be thinking too much about Quarry Lake today, but that's another business that is expanding this year; and the new features will be ready for the Memorial Day weekend in May. I'm sure that every kid and teen in town will appreciate the new play opportunities a lot more than the interior design business – unless they're looking for bedroom upgrades or something!

I haven't written about the church expansion project in quite a while because I'm not involved in it at all, but the work will be starting after Easter. Though it isn't anywhere near the biggest construction project in town, it is going to be one of the more complex because the addition will be married to the existing church; and will need to be done while still accommodating the normal church operations. Add in jobs like protecting stained glass windows in the sanctuary – not to mention moving all of the windows on one exterior wall – and the project is set to take nearly two years to complete. When they're done, though, the church will be large enough to handle the growing population here for at least the next couple of decades.

There was one little point of business today that I hadn't really been thinking about at all yet; and it directly involved me this time – our Grade Eight class trip to Washington. Specifically, my protection and safety is something that the Magi Council is concerned about; and they've made arrangements to deal with that problem. I'll have two Magi chaperones on the trip in addition to Uncle Nick – Tracey Landry and Rachel Jacobs. Ethan, Ehlana, and I don't sense any risk right now, but the precaution does make sense; and I'm not complaining about the extra attention in this situation. Mom and Dad feel better about the trip now too.

Tim hasn't said anything about his Mom going on the trip yet, so he probably doesn't know yet; since she wouldn't be able to tell him the real reason for going along. Keeping an eye on him will be a bonus for her.

By the way, is it wrong for me to hope that maybe something does happen just so I can see Tracey throw large objects around – like maybe cars or busses? That would be very cool; and maybe she'd let me help! ;^)

We've pretty much covered the future plans meeting news now, so let's go back to the 'normal' stuff from today. Having Michael over for Tai Chi this morning was definitely normal – and so are our good morning hugs and kisses; though I'd also classify those are really special too. Having Michael get back to his morning weight training with Tim and the other guys isn't quite as exciting for me, but the need for guy time is simply a fact of life – just as girls' nights and sleepovers are important. Compared to yesterday, getting ready for the day today was a breeze; and I was over at Rowen's house with fifteen minutes to spare before we actually needed to head over to the school.

The baby news was the most exciting part of our school day for me, but starting new subject modules is always a nice change too – even though I learned all of the material back when I was a toddler. It was cold enough out that we stayed indoors at lunchtime; though lots of other kids and teens did venture outside anyway despite the cold. There's been a bit of rain and even a little snow too; but that just seemed appropriate for the back-at-school occasion to a lot of the students – and even some of the teachers too! Once we were set free for the day, our after-school study session included a music practice; mostly because Michael and I hadn't really played our saxophones at all last week and we needed to get ready for music class and band practice tomorrow.

Michael and I had dinner at his house; and that was another couple of hours of normal that I was really glad to get back to – especially the food part of that; which was as amazing as always. Miranda and Stephanie are sure that having a chef for a husband or boyfriend is great, but dating a child or sibling of a chef works out pretty well too.

We'll skip over the fact that Jacob and Jake weren't chefs when they met their favorite girls – I'm sure that the fact that both men are gorgeous had absolutely nothing to do with why Miranda and Stephanie were attracted to them.

[Pause]

Sorry, I'm back now from that little daydream. Don't worry, Michael – I love you; but a girl never really gets over her first crush. I'm sure that every boy can relate – even if they won't admit it to anyone.

That totally derailed my train of thought, so let's just move along. Michael and I had a guitar lesson after cleaning up from dinner, but then I needed to get home for the meeting. We had the usual gang there, and it took a couple of hours to go through everything; including a family business update that keeps getting better every year. Considering the amounts of money we're talking about here, the improvement is noticeable daily if anyone actually wanted to check that often.

Maybe Mom should make up one of those desktop widgets for a family business growth counter or something. A countdown clock to the coming Ascension of the Light would be awesome too, but that's information that Ethan, Ehlana, and I don't know the exact time for; and can't share most of what we do know yet.

After the meeting, I helped with the clean-up and saying goodbye to everyone; and then I took care of getting Ethan and Ehlana tucked into their beds for the night. They took that time to tell me about how their first day of exams went. I've been there and done that, so I know they aren't stressed about them; and it was entertaining to hear them joke about how weird it was to go from play days at KidZone to writing their first semester, freshman finals – and back again; since they'll be at KidZone for their usual Tuesday play day.

After my brother and sister were both in bed for the night, I came up to my room to get started on my bedtime studies and work. I needed to use a bit of time-phasing again, but I'll need to watch that; since it really is close to an even trade-off to working later and getting less sleep because I need more sleep to recover from the use of my Magi abilities. There isn't anything else to report from my studies or work, and I really do need to get that extra sleep now, so, until next time...

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

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

It's been yet another cold day here, but at least the sun was out; and it's supposed to start warming up again tomorrow.

I don't really have much news today; so we'll keep this short. It was a normal morning at home; a settle-in day at school now that the holiday gossip has been covered; and we stayed indoors at lunchtime again. Band practice after school was fun, but uneventful; and our study session at the computer store was short and sweet because Tim had actually been bored enough while waiting for us to get some of his work out of the way.

Michael came home with me for dinner; and we've had a fairly quiet evening around here. Mom did a Magi lesson with us after Michael and I finished doing the dishes; and then we played with Ethan and Ehlana until their bedtime. Michael helped me to tuck them in for the night, but then he went home so that I could get started on my studies and work. I'd have rather had him stay for a little quality alone time; but he seems to think that I'm working too hard and needs to do something to help me out with that – even if he'd have rather been enjoying a little make-out time too.

Does anyone reading this want to hazard a guess as to how many thirteen-year old boys would even think along those lines, let alone have the self-control to actually do something like that? Oh, and trust me, I was not helping to make that decision easier for him tonight. This is one more reason for me to be sure that I've done pretty well in the boyfriend department, and why I love Michael – even when he's being too nice and considerate for our own good.

His choice did make it possible for me to get started on my studies, and with a bit of frustrated energy to burn off; I finished everything except my bedtime computer checks and this update by shortly after eleven. It's still just coming up on eleven-thirty now, so I'll be off to sleep a bit ahead of schedule too; though that just has me wishing Michael had stayed and we'd used that extra time more effectively.

Okay, enough of that; or I won't get to sleep for quite a while. Tomorrow is an after-school work day, so I don't expect much excitement around here until game night on Thursday – especially here at home while Mom and Dad are busy with work too; and the twins will continue writing their first semester finals. I don't have to worry about any tests over the next couple of days, but thinking about them does work to make me sleepy; so I think I'll try and head off to dream land now.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

It's been a long day, and though I'm still sticking with the early bedtime plan; it doesn't feel like it tonight. With that in mind, forgive me for deciding that there wasn't anything going on in my school and work day that was more important to write about now than crashing and sleeping for seven hours or so. Until next time...

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

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Happy 3rd Birthday, Jayden!

I didn't even get much of a change to talk with Jayden today because Ethan and Ehlana did most of the chatting when we called to wish him a happy birthday; but I'm sure he's had a good day – and likely a more exciting one than we've had around here.

The return to warmer weather yesterday and today has been nice, but the rain isn't so much fun. Getting a little thunderstorm is probably a good sign that spring is really here; but we might not totally be in the clear from a bit more snow here and there quite yet. Rain didn't keep me indoors all day, though I wasn't really out all that much anyway between home, school, hanging out at the Inn, and back home again after game night.

Starting the day out with the added birthday phone call with Jayden and his family was fun, and while that trend continued all day; there isn't anything specific happening at school that's exciting enough to report here. We seem to be in the calm before the Easter storm now and there just isn't that much going on – at least that I'm involved with. There are always extra-curricular activities going on around the school, from sports to clubs of all kinds; but Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I aren't part of any of those teams or groups – other than band.

That may sound strange, and some kids and teens get involved with a lot of activities at school, but keep in mind that we also have a very small school; and those groups can be very small. Even sports teams can end up with a bare minimum of players, and there isn't even a competitive team in some sports whenever there isn't enough interest. While I'm thinking about that, this is a good time to mention that I do get asked to play team sports occasionally, but haven't done that yet – other than summer baseball. I don't know whether I'll do that or not during high school; but I am sure that I want to be very careful. It's one thing to play local baseball, and another to compete in other towns at other schools. Regardless of where we stand with the Hathornes right now, I still don't want to draw attention to myself from outside Witch Falls if I can avoid it. There's also the issue of causing problems with some of the other girls if I did start playing a bunch of the competitive sports at school. Being team 'stars' means a lot to some of my friends, and while I have to hold back at nearly every physical activity I do; I won't play to lose or below average for a 'normal' girl my age. That's been a minor issue in baseball, but would probably be a bigger problem if I started showing up as the best player on every team in every sport. Even Carolyn Landry isn't the best at every sport – and she lives for sports just as much as her brother does.

I managed to wander off from the planned update again; so let's get back on track.

While we kept ourselves entertained all day at school, the real fun of the day started once we were set free and moved on to the Inn for our study session. Rebecca and Jenny joined us for that; and the six of us worked at the table in the back room for about an hour. Jenny handled most of the entertainment while we studied; and it almost felt like old times for a change – a feeling I haven't felt around Jenny for a long time now. Most of her stories were cheerleader-related, but had less to do with the teams the squad cheers for and was more about the sidelines action. The only slightly weird part of that was when she talked about boys checking her out or hitting on her; apparently not even thinking about the fact that Tim and Michael were doing football training fairly regularly with her boyfriend, and those comments definitely made them uncomfortable.

Having Jenny study with us wasn't as big of a surprise as having her stay to help out in the kitchen instead of leaving when Tim and Rowen did. The 'just like old times' feeling continued, though, and I really had fun working with Rebecca and Jenny while Michael mostly worked on the cleaning side of the jobs. She spent some time teasing Michael and me; though she thought our little hugs and kisses moments were cute. I'd never really thought about that being a bit like how Jacob and Miranda and Jake and Stephanie work in the kitchen too until Jenny mentioned it; but then I think that's quite a compliment.

If there was a specific reason for why Jenny had felt the need to spend the evening with Rebecca, she didn't tell me; but for all I know she could just be thinking ahead to summer job potential. Whether she is still dating Garth Green by then or not; I can guarantee that she won't be looking to work on farms on in greenhouses. That isn't a guess – she's always been very clear about her lack of interest in anything farm-related – and even doing gardening and yard work around the house. Okay, I don't exactly plan on a career in farming either, and weeding gardens isn't my favorite job in the world; but I do like some of the work we always have around the house and yard; and doing those chores with my family is almost always fun.

And there I go drifting off-course again!

It was a quiet dinner sitting at the Inn, and that allowed Michael and I to have a longer meal break than usual; though we ended up working a bit longer in the kitchen after that while Rebecca and Jenny got to help with setting up for game night. Jenny stayed to play too, and helped Rebecca to win the junior championship. I don't know if having a light turnout for gaming had anything to do with that; but it might have helped Grandma and Grandpa with winning the senior championship. That earned them some teasing about leaving town and going back down south where they belong in the winter; but I'm fairly sure Grandpa was only joking about actually doing that.

I know that they had thought about going to Florida after getting back from their family business trip, but they decided that missing two months of Zack's early life was enough for right now without making it three or four months out of his first six. I'm sure that when their grandkids are older that they'll be happy to go with their grandparents for trips to Disney and Universal Studios! Oh wait – I'm already older! We should definitely talk about that for next year!

Getting back to now, though; the gaming was fun, and Michael and I had Ethan and Ehlana entertaining us most of the evening. I didn't stay late to help with the clean-up tonight because Mom wanted to do a big Magi lesson with me when we got home – after we put the twins to bed. That took more than an hour and a half, and was fairly strenuous; so I was ready to go straight to bed once Mom had finished putting me through the Magi paces. The good news is that I did get to bed then; and the bad is that I got caught up in a fairly high-priority family business work project that kept me busy way past my new, self-imposed nightly work curfew. The only thing I'll say about that work is that our family business would be a lot easier to run without the interference of any governments anywhere. I doubt that an army of Magi Masters could clean up the messes that governments create around the world. Sometimes, it seems so scary; I have to wonder if Dark Magi have a hand in the political circles of some countries. I'm sure that the Hathornes do to so small extent; but we know from our infiltration of their systems that they aren't – at least overtly – involved at the highest levels of politics. They're mostly interested in making sure that government agencies don't get in the way of their business, and they deal with that by any means necessary.

The bottom line for tonight is that I worked on that project until after two and then still needed to do a bit of language studying too before getting around to my usual nightly computer checks. It's a good thing that I had the extra rest last night; because I'll only have time for a long nap now. At least I only have one more day until the weekend!

I have had enough fun for tonight, though, and don't have anything else to add to this update, so that's all for now; and I'm out of here.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Friday, March 28, 2014

Congratulations, Heather and Adam – you are officially owners of a beautiful, riverfront home in the new section of town! I'll guess that the Green family is in for a busy weekend helping them move in; but all of that work will be worth it for them to be in their new home in time for Brandon's second birthday on Monday.

We're not going to be directly involved in that move, though Mom and Dad will be helping out with some food and drinks to help them feed the volunteer movers; and we have a nice house-warming gift for them too. Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace may help a bit at the new house, since they are going to be across-the-street neighbors, though I haven't heard anything specific; and the Green clan really does have a lot of big, strong guys available to make fairly short work of the heavy lifting – along with a small fleet of delivery trucks to haul everything in.

Compared to getting a new house, my day was fairly tame; but Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I also had a lot of fun too – especially once we were set free from school for the weekend. Before I get to that part of the report, though; let's start from the beginning.

It was fairly chilly this morning when Michael came over for Tai Chi, and while he still needed to rush around a bit to do that with us and then get to his weight training at school; Mom and I didn't let him escape without getting some hot food into him on the run. I'd like to think that my goodbye hug and kisses helped to keep him warm until we met up again at school, but even if that didn't work; it did keep both of us smiling for a while.

We didn't have anything else out of the norm going on at home this morning, and I was ready to go early enough to meet up with Rowen at her house before she was ready to head out; so that gave me a chance to catch up on some chat time with her parents and Patrick while I waited for her. Owen and Patricia are busy with tax season, but the big rush is coming over the next couple of weeks, and with the added pressure of the new data center; they'll be very busy. Rowen's going to help out more too, but I think that we should do a few bonus sleepovers at my house to give them a break on the home front; and maybe Patrick could spend some extra time at Scott's house too. I know that they're overjoyed with how successful their business is becoming now; but that won't mean much if they burn out before getting to enjoy the benefits of that success.

Getting back on track, Rowen and I headed to school once she was ready; we met up with Michael and Tim after their weight training workout; and pretty much needed to get right to our home room class. We had a Day One schedule Friday, so I was the only student in our class that actually liked starting out the last day of the week with Spanish; but nobody minds ending the school week with Phys-Ed for last class – especially when we take it outdoors. It was a bit cooler today, and the yard was still wet; but at least the rain moved on by then and it was nice to be out of the gym again for a change.

There isn't anything to write about from our classes today. We're continuing the new modules, and while we will start seeing quizzes again by next week; there'll be a bit of a reprieve from major tests for at least another week or two. While that doesn't bother me one way or the other; it certainly takes the stress level down for about half of my classmates. The homework load is a different story. We still took the evening off from working on it; but Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I will need to get together sometime this weekend to work on a couple of projects – even if we do the rest of our work on our own.

I sense another Sunday afternoon work session in my near future; but that's preferable to skipping what I hope will be some Michael and me alone time tomorrow night to study instead.

On the teen talk front around school, Heather and Adam Green's new house made the grapevine news through some cousins; and there are lots of kids and teens looking at those new homes with wishful eyes and hopeful dreams. I might be one of those dreamers; though that's as much because I know that my future will not include inheriting the Proctor family home from Mom and Dad. That'll be Ethan's honor – and burden. Okay, yes, I might know more than that about my future; but let's not spoil any surprises tonight.

Returning to the teen talk topic, weekend plans were top news too; but not really in an upbeat way because nearly everyone old enough to help out with chores knew by this morning that the weather was going to cooperate for the next couple of days and make spring clean-ups a certainty. Easter is just three weeks away, and while it's still too cold most nights to plant new flowers quite yet; gardens and yards need to be readied for the impending spring renewal. Add in post-winter maintenance; and most of us are going to be in for very long work days – at least on Saturday. You will not hear me complain – especially when I hear some of my farm-kid friends telling me about some of the work they have to do every spring – often in very muddy conditions.

Work was the last thing on my mind once we were set free for the weekend. Michael and I split up with Rowen and Tim long enough to drop our bags off at our homes and collect our bikes; and then we went for a long ride. That started with a stop at the Emporium for trail rations and drinks; we did the usual construction sites tour; and then headed East along the river. With all of the rain we've had over the past couple of days, we knew the trails at the park would be a quagmire – except for the main pathway – so we instead rode East for almost an hour to see how far we could get; and then biked back to town in time to meet up with Tim's parents at his house after they were done work for the day.

My family was taking a break from dinner and a movie night, and since Michael's and Rowen's parents were both working; Martin and Tracey agreed to Tim's request for having the four of us at their house for the evening. While Tim's parents share the store and shop hours with his aunt and uncle; they still put in long work weeks – just as every business owner in town does; so helping them with making dinner and cleaning up was as expected as it is at my house. Rowen and I helped Tracey with making dinner, but there wasn't anything sexist about that decision – Tim was put to work getting his bedroom and the family room presentable for 'gentler' company; and he drafted Michael to help him. Martin allowed that, but only because Michael was used to Tim's usual state of not-so-clean. According to Tracey, Tim has actually improved significantly since he started dating Rowen; and she also noted that he hadn't made that effort with anyone before her – without mentioning any names.

The boys got the worst of that deal anyway, since it really didn't take much work to throw together a large pot of spaghetti; some appetizers; and a couple of pans full of extra-cheesy garlic bread. While the food was great, it was the dinner conversation that I loved the most. I hear more about the local farming news and everything else that goes on around Landry's showroom and shop through Tim's parents than from anywhere else – including my farm-based friends. So far, the farmers are apparently fairly happy with the weather; though that can change fairly quickly if we get too much rain or a major dry spell. For now, though, there hasn't been any major flooding thanks to staggered melt-off of winter snow; and spring always brings out the optimism in most farmers around here.

All I'm thinking about for that is how optimistic – and happy – they'll be in the not too distant future when Ehlana succeeds with some of her pet projects at the lab when it opens in September. Drought-resistant crops are one of her top priorities, and while she can't do too much physical work or experimentation on that yet; she has been thinking about it a lot and doing research for a while now. I'm not going to be very deeply involved in the lab, or the work that Ethan and Ehlana will do there; but it is going to be very cool to watch it all happen!

We're still a bit young to get very excited about cars, but it was fun hearing about some of the new vehicles that Tracey and Sarah are bringing in this year. Tim is almost as interested in talking cars as football; but then he's only personally interested in one car for himself – a Corvette. Football still wins for now, but I'm sure that'll change between now and when he can get his license. I can relate to liking sports cars, but some of my parents' practicality has rubbed off on me too; since I'll be thinking more about space and convenience than fast and cool when it comes time for me to buy my first car.

Maybe we should have gotten a sports car to drive around in back when it was just you and me, Mom! That wouldn't have been keeping a low profile; but might have helped us with some of those close call escapes. ;^)

There was some talk about new farm equipment for this year too; but that wasn't quite as interesting for half of us so Tracey, Rowen, and I missed out on some of that while we talked about 'girl things'. That included everything from new babies and pregnancies to a bit of romance gossip; and that kept us entertained through the tail-end of dinner and dessert. It was teen time in the kitchen for the clean-up; and then Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I went outside and over to the school to toss a football around for a while.

Now that Michael and Tim are both taller than Rowen and me, they're starting to gain some advantages over us when it comes to some sports, but I have some other advantages to compensate; and Rowen is still under-estimated by nearly everyone for her athletic ability – not to mention her fiery competitiveness. I bring that up here because the four of us actually make a pretty good team. I can throw a football to exactly where any of my friends are going to be when at a flat-out run; Michael and Tim can catch anything if the ball is on-target; and Rowen can run and dodge with a football better than either Michael or Tim can manage. I can also tell you that it's probably a good thing that there isn't a high school co-ed football league. The parents and teachers would likely have a problem with all of the hugs and kisses after each football play – not that Rowen and I would be interested in doing that with our boys in front of a crowd. The group of younger girls at the playground giggled at us, though; and the boys happily gagged and tried to razz us.

We didn't play football for very long before heading back to Tim's house; and then we wound down the evening with some video gaming. As usual, the boys did most of the gaming while Rowen and I were content to cuddle with them and chat for a few hours. Some of that chat time included Tim's parents; but they left us on our own for most of the evening. That didn't mean we had any alone time for even a minor make-out session – which is why I'm really hoping that Michael and I can manage that tomorrow night; but we had a lot of fun anyway. Even with everything we fit into those hours between the start of weekend freedom and the end of the night; it still seemed too soon when it was time to head for home.

Michael and I left first, but took a slow walk while waiting for Rowen to say goodnight to Tim and catch up with us so we could walk her home on our way to my house. That cut into the time we had for our own goodnight hugs and kisses on my front porch; but by then I was pretty much ready to come up to bed anyway – especially after running all day on just a few hours of sleep last night.

That's why I've skipped a lot of my usual nightly computing after climbing into bed with Mandy, and even with a bit of family business work that came up; I'll still be off to sleep before one o'clock. I know, that's still not going to be much sleep, but if needed; I can always cheat with a little Magi-powered fatigue banishing in the morning. I am ready to get started on that sleep time, and don't have any other news for today; so, until next time...

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

Saturday, March 29, 2014

This has been another very long day; though it was the spring clean-up work that has me tired out; which is a change from the usual, more mental work load that usually has me in the same condition most other nights. The good news is that I didn't let being tired out get in the way of some Michael and me play time tonight during the couple of hours of alone time we managed to have between the time we tucked the twins in for the night and when Michael needed to go home for the night. Before I get to that, though; let's do the review of the work parts of the day – which was pretty much the rest of the time from shortly after Tai Chi until after dinner.

Michael came over for Tai Chi, but then he left right away to get started on his own morning chores. I didn't cook breakfast or clean up the kitchen after we ate today, but I did take care of Ethan and Ehlana while Mom and Dad were busy before breakfast; and then I was outside and working in the yard right after we finished eating. The to-do list was extensive, and wasn't going to be finished this weekend anyway; but we did our best to make a serious dent in it. My chores are getting appropriately more challenging for my age, and while there are some good things about that; not every new job is particularly pleasant.

Living in a big house is great, but keeping everything maintained is equally big – and I'm not just talking about the usual chores that go with having a big yard and lots of rooms to clean. Today, Dad and I checked out everything from the furnace to the eaves and roof. Some of that work was regular maintenance, but there were a whole raft of minor, winter-damage repairs to make. I'm not at all afraid of heights, so working on ladders with Dad wasn't a problem; but I did learn some practical lessons about planning ahead when working at the top of extremely tall extension ladders – like making sure that you have everything you need for the job the first time you climb the ladder. Making that climb and descent too many times gets very tiring – especially when you're hauling tools and supplies with you.

By the way, in case you're wondering; I was completely safe the entire time – even without the obvious Magi-power backup. We have all of the proper safety gear, and Dad made sure that I used the straps and a harness – not that I was really in any danger of a slip or fall anyway. Magi Masters aren't immune to injury, but we do have reflexes that allow us to react and avoid most minor accidents.

Returning to the work report, while the minor house maintenance kept us busy all morning, Dad and I moved on to the yard work as it warmed up a bit in the afternoon. That included a bit of work on the storage barn; gardening; tree trimming; and a once-over of the dock. That last job had Dad deciding that it was time to replace the dock this year; though he was also sure that we could get another year out of the old one. He just doesn't want to do the work on this one to do that and then need to replace it next year anyway. The water is too cold to do that work now; so that'll be a job for sometime in May or June when it's a bit warmer.

Dad and I kept working until nearly seven o'clock; leaving just enough time for a quick clean-up before sitting down to the late dinner Mom had ready by the time we did that and were ready to eat. Ethan and Ehlana took care of most of the dinner conversation, and though they helped Mom with some chores this morning; they had play time in the afternoon that included going to the park for some play time with Alicia. I haven't mentioned Alicia in my journal in quite a while, and I guess that's just another example of how my life is changing now that I'm a teen and have a boyfriend. Alicia still has her two after-school nights a week and helps out on most Saturdays unless we're busy with something else – or she is. Since her usual weeknights are Tuesday and Thursday, she's usually done already by the time I get home from band and studying at the computer store on Tuesday; and I'm at the Inn most Thursday nights. It's not as though I'd spend much time with her even if I was here, but maybe that'll change a bit when she starts putting in more time again this summer – at least until she goes away to college in August.

I wonder who Mom will replace her with. Oh, wait; maybe I'm not in that much of a hurry to find out! ;^)

My first order of business after helping with the dinner clean-up was to grab a badly needed shower. I'm sure that Michael was as interested in some quality alone time as I was; but he would have soon changed his mind if I hadn't showered and changed first. That's one case where having heightened senses is both good and bad for me. I'm not going to start a chat on teen body odor issues; so let's move along to the much more interesting end to my day.

I was finished doing my hair and changed into something appropriate for cuddling – and making out – with Michael by the time he came over after being set free from the Inn. Ethan and Ehlana were ready for bed by then, but Michael and I spent some time playing with them before doing their bedtime story and snack with Mom and Dad and then tucking them in for the night. We came up to the lounge after that, and enjoyed that couple of hours of play time I mentioned at the beginning of this update. Michael made sure that I wasn't interested in napping; I made sure that he wasn't interested in anything except me; and we both enjoyed creating some really hot, sweet memories together.

In fact, I'd rather be replaying those memories and dreaming about Michael and me right now instead of dragging this report out any longer; so, until next time...

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

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Happy 19th Birthday, Jake!

I'm sure that it has been – especially since Stephanie took him out for a birthday party that included a hotel sleepover for two. Miranda missed having her baby home for the day – especially since that was a first for any of her kids; but we did our best to help her to celebrate and have fun too. I was with Michael at his house for the birthday breakfast that Jake and Stephanie were only able to attend via phone call; and I made sure that Miranda had extra hugs here and there throughout the rest of the day whenever I was around and it looked like she needed one.

Backing up a bit, Michael came over for Tai Chi, and then I rushed through getting ready for the day before meeting up with him again at his house for Jake's in-absentia birthday breakfast. Rebecca happily sent him pictures of the dishes he was missing out on using Miranda's phone; and that added to the entertainment fun while we ate and talked with Jake and Stephanie for over half an hour. Michael and I took care of the clean-up while his parents and sister got ready for church; and then we met up with my parents, brother, and sister and walked to church together.

While Jake's birthday was the big event for the Stone family, the top stories at church this morning were Heather and Adam Green's move into their new home and the weather. While they still have unpacking left to do, Heather, Adam, and Brandon spent their first night in the new house last night; and Brandon is apparently already keeping his parents busy with his fascination with having a river in his back yard. Since they bought Aunt Leanne's first 'show' home, a lot of people in town – maybe even most – know just how beautiful it is; and we're all very happy for them.

The weather had everyone's attention too, and in a good way too; thanks to the temperature climbing back into the seventies again. That had everyone thinking about spring a lot more than any amount of yard work possibly could; and spending time outdoors doing anything was very popular today. I missed out on the drawn-out social time after church because Michael needed to head to the Inn right away after an extended service; but then I went home after that and was already changed by the time Mom and Dad got home with the twins. I took care of Ethan and Ehlana; helped Mom with making lunch; and then Ethan, Ehlana, and I were set free to go play after we finished eating while Mom and Dad cleaned up before moving on to some office work they each needed to deal with.

I took the bike and trailer to the park so that I could take the twins for a ride. We met up with Rowen and Tim there; played at the park with a bunch of other kids and teens; and Tim and Ethan played a bit of football with some of the guys for a while too. Michael joined us for the last part of the football action, but then we needed to head back to my house to get our homework finished. With such a beautiful afternoon, we took our work out onto the back porch, and it didn't take long to get everything finished; but then Michael and I just ended up going back to the Inn a bit early to help out with the prep work for the buffets. Tim and Rowen went out biking again, and that would have been fun; but I liked spending the time with Michael and his family too – even if we didn't get to enjoy much more of the warm and sun today.

The weather affected the buffet crowd a little bit; though that would have been more noticeable if we hadn't had most of the Green clan at the first sitting having a 'thank-you for helping us move' dinner that Heather, Adam, and his parents hosted. Without them, we wouldn't have had a full house for the first sitting; and we were only a bit more than three-quarters full for the second sitting. That did allow everyone working at the Inn to take it a bit easier than usual; and my favorite part of the evening was when Michael, Rebecca, and I took our dinner break and ate our meals out by the river – though off to the side from the Inn so we wouldn't be in the way of the diner's view of the river.

There wasn't anything special that happened during that break – it was mostly just the comparative quiet; just getting to be outdoors instead of cooped up inside; and the chat time with two of my best friends that made that handful of moments special. We didn't even really talk about anything earthshaking enough to write about here – just a quiet re-hash of some of the tidbits of news from the day and a little talk about what we each had going on over the next week or two. With Rebecca in Grade Nine, Michael and I still miss out on lots of things she's doing with other high school teens; but that'll likely start changing again this summer – and when we hit high school in September too.

Because of the quieter second buffet sitting, I was able to head home early, and I was determined to get back on track with my early bedtime plans for school nights. Mom did my Magi lesson with me before we did the bedtime routine with Ethan and Ehlana. While I'm thinking about them, they've finished their first semester college exams; and will be starting their second freshman semester next week. That gives them about three months to finish their first year of college before summer holidays; and then they'll start their second year in September – right on time for having access to the equipment at the lab.

After getting the twins tucked in for the night, I decided to mix my studying and work with some Jacuzzi time. I needed to use just a touch of time-phasing to get everything done, and that meant spending a bit too much time in the tub, but I am in bed now; and will be sleeping before midnight – so it worked out for the best. I've only done my email check and this update since getting cuddled with Mandy; and don't have anything newsworthy from my inbox to report either; so I guess that's it for tonight. Until next time...

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

Monday, March 31, 2014

What a way to end the month – and though March may or may not have come in like a lion; it definitely has gone out like a lamb! How nice was it? Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I skipped our after-school study time in favor of playing instead – and Michael and I did our homework after dinner at his house instead.

I've gotten ahead of the story; so let's back up to the beginning.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Brandon Green!

While Brandon's first birthday in his family's new home was a big deal for them; I'm really only mentioning it because Brandon occasionally plays with Ethan and Ehlana at church or KidZone; though he's enough younger that he can't always keep up with the twins and their usual group of playmates. Ethan isn't close enough to Brandon to be invited to the party today; but Aiden was – though that had more to do with the two boys being neighbors now than anything else.

We weren't having birthday party kind of fun around home this morning, but I did enjoy the good morning hugs and kisses with Michael; our Tai Chi; and a fairly quiet morning before meeting up with Rowen and heading off to school. We had a bit of rain this morning, but nothing major; and it had moved out of the area well before lunchtime so that spending time outdoors was an option.

The mood around school was pretty upbeat for a Monday. Part of that was due to the weather – even with the morning rain; but being done with March seems to have everyone thinking that spring really is here. Then again, it could just be that there are a lot of kids and teens spending the day working on perfect April Fool's Day jokes for tomorrow; and there's really no deeper meaning to the happy at all.

There are some other signs of spring fever around the school. The countdown to Easter seemed to start in earnest today, and as usual; that starts with the youngest kids as they work on themed lessons and crafts. That'll make for a colorful change to the displays and walls around the school, and while that would probably get laughed about by teens at high schools in cities; it's never a problem here – or if it is with any teen; they're at least smart enough not to voice those opinions.

While there aren't those kinds of problems at our school, spring fever and teen drama go hand-in-hand, and even in our little town; the battles can be intense and there can be casualties – particularly of the broken heart variety. As I think about that, the strangest part of the teen drama here might be the fact that there aren't that many players in the show. That doesn't mean that there is never any drama with the 'permanent' teen couples; but they also don't usually do much of the break-up and make-up kind of thing either. The real drama comes from the teens that haven't 'found their match' yet. This year, for example, there are only three senior high school teens still in that group; and they account for most of the drama. The scale flips the other way down through the grades to mine, so there are more active players in Grade Eight; and there's still a majority of my classmates in search of their most-compatible boyfriend or girlfriend.

There are times when I wonder what that must be like, but I certainly wouldn't trade what Michael and I have just to find out for myself. I also don't think that I'd like being on either side of a heartbreak either; though I guess that I have been to some extent with Patrick's crush on me – and through being the girl for Michael that Vanessa and Lisa wish they could have been.

That's gotten off-track, and way too heavy for such a nice day; so let's get back to the update.

I'm not going to get into every teen drama story, and don't want to pick on Jenny; but I hear more about her problems with Garth that most other stories, and they do manage to cover quite a bit of the range of troubles those 'temporary' couples seem to deal with. In their case, part of their problem is simple geography – he's out on the family farms and she's here in town – and without him around far too often for her liking. It was one thing last fall when he was staying after school every day for football and had the Friday night games. After that, there was the Christmas holidays, and then Jenny wasn't all that interested in being out and about during the worst of winter; but that's changing again now. The bad news for Garth is that this is also a very busy time of year for his family, and hanging out with Jenny after school instead of working in the greenhouses isn't an option.

That doesn't work for Jenny at all, and while it's by no means their only issue; it is a problem when she compares them to other couples – particularly the other footballers and cheerleaders. Jenny doesn't have any immediate prospects for her next boyfriend, and I think that Garth is still hoping that they can work things out; but I'm not the only person around them to see the writing on the wall. They may drag it out until summertime; but I doubt it will be quite that long before they break up.

So much for moving along! Let's try a bit harder to get back to the normal news of the day.

With Tim in our little best-friend foursome, warm weather means football; and he had Michael and some of the other guys tossing a ball around at lunchtime while Rowen and I sat on the bleachers with some of the other girls. We were invited to join in, but the grass was still wet from the morning rain; and we didn't feel like spending the afternoon wet or dirty. Michael managed to get through that with nothing worse than wet shoes and socks; but Tim had to change into one of his gym tees, and spent the next couple of hours with wet pants thanks to putting a bit too much effort into his game play. We were back outdoors again for Phys-Ed class, and while what we did wasn't as important to any of us as just being outside; I didn't mind running some laps around the track or playing a bit of soccer instead of our usual gymnasium action. We will get to be outdoors for Phys-Ed more as we move into April and it's time for our track and field and soccer modules; and I'm really looking forward to that a lot.

It was as we were heading inside again to hit the showers that Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I decided to blow off our study session and play instead until dinnertime. That might be a problem for some teens – at least for their parents – but mine don't have an issue for obvious reasons; and even Tim's parents cut him some slack today – something they might not have done before he started studying with the rest of us every day. Then again, he'd have avoided studying at all if he could manage it in those 'before' times. ;^)

So instead of studying, we grabbed our bikes, went for a ride; took Ethan and Ehlana to the park for some playground time; the boys played more football while we were there; and then Michael and I dropped the twins off at my house before going on to his for dinner with his parents and Rebecca. The only change from our normal Monday evening was the study session in the dining room after we'd cleaned the kitchen. The meal, guitar lesson, and wind down cuddle and chat in the living room with Miranda and Jacob was the same – and as much fun as always.

I was home again in time to tuck Ethan and Ehlana in for the night and hear about their new college 'classes'; but missed the bedtime story and snack. Mom did my Magi lesson after that, and the rest of my evening was all study and work and not much fun. There certainly isn't anything from that blast of computer action worth writing about here, and I should probably get as much rest as I can tonight anyway – just in case there are April Fool's Day pranks directed my way tomorrow. Michael and Tim haven't tried anything since my first year here and those no-hugging-zone posters, and Patrick and Scott have been pretty good so far in the New Year; but I'll still be ready for anything just in case – and there are bound to be pranks and gags going on tomorrow; even if they aren't targeted specifically at me.

Whatever happens, it should be an interesting day, so I'm out of here and off to dream land. Until next time...

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

April 2014

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Happy April Fool's Day!

The best joke of the day in Witch Falls wasn't actually a joke at all! Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace announced that she's pregnant, and quite a few people believed that it was a practical joke – including a few members of our extended family.

As I already mentioned, though, it wasn't – so, congratulations Aunt Grace and Uncle Mark – you're going to have a baby!

While that wasn't exactly news for some of us today, it was the top story for the Proctor and Everett families; and I'm sure that Uncle Mark's parents, brother, sister, and their spouses and kids are all very excited for him – and Aunt Grace. I know that everyone in our family is thrilled; and we'll likely have some extra visitors dropping by over the next few weeks – even though there won't be much going on that's baby-related right now beyond the less-than-fun things like morning sickness.

I didn't even hear about the official pregnancy announcement until after lunch when Uncle Nick – Mr. Ayres – told me; and by then, most of the pranks and jokes around school had been played already. The themed fun actually started at home this morning; and Ethan and Ehlana were the instigators. They were very cute, and there were levels to their humor that most people who saw them today wouldn't have realized was intentional; so their little joke kept on giving pretty much all day.

Their first attempt at April Fool's Day practical jokes was to try a twin switch. Ethan drew the line at wearing anything too 'girly' – like one of Ehlana's dresses – but they tried their best in every other way to trade places. They'd switched rooms ahead of their Tai Chi wake-up call; tried wearing hats to disguise their hair; and eventually even tried to hang out with each other's friends while at KidZone. The opposite gender problem kept their prank from fooling anyone except with the most cursory of glances; but then they knew that and played along – especially whenever someone pretended to be fooled by the switch.

Ehlana advised me that in at least one case, the joke was on Ethan because Naomi apparently was quite happy to take the opportunity to hug her 'best friend' a lot while they were at the daycare together and he was pretending to be Ehlana. Then again, my brother is rather brilliant; so I doubt that he minded those hugs at all.

While Ethan and Ehlana entertained us with their prank this morning, I didn't really have any first-hand experience with the jokes going on around school – though we heard about most of them eventually. Michael and Tim advised us that there were no pranks pulled during their weight training because nobody would ever risk getting Kyle mad at them – and he was a bear about safety when it came to lifting weights. That didn't keep some of the guys from post-workout, locker room pranks, though, and while Tim didn't admit to anything; his grin while telling Rowen and me about those practical jokes suggested that he had a hand in one or more of them.

Tim and Michael also didn't mention who was on the receiving end of those pranks, but I was able to work that out for myself in some cases – particularly with the perfume-for-cologne switch. The pranks and jokes going on around the rest of the school were fairly tame and mostly amusing; though there were a few that backfired and got some boys in trouble – with their friends; not any teachers. While, as I mentioned, there weren't any pranks directed at me, there were a few in our classroom, and again; Tim was suspiciously grinning while not admitting anything. One thing that might have been very different this year, though, is that he may have needed a certain computer-savvy accomplice for one of the pranks; and that would definitely be something that person has never done before. I'm not quite sure whether I should be proud or a little bit scared. Let's just go with both on that and move along.

Mother Nature wasn't getting in on the pranks, but it was cooler today; and we've had more rain move into the area again. Rain showers aren't exactly a shock for April; but starting the month with several days of rain isn't particularly exciting to me. At least that'll be happening on days when I'll be working at home or the Inn anyway; but spring is way more fun when we have warm and sunny instead of cool and wet.

We didn't start getting the rain until after dinner today, so going outside at lunchtime was an option even though it was a bit on the cool side. Tim wanted to play football, but he did at least let us eat in the cafeteria before we went out. While he and Michael tossed a football around with some of the other guys, Rowen and I wandered around the school yard for part of the time instead of just sitting on the bleachers. As usual, we ended up helping some younger girls with their skipping; played with some of the younger kids at the playground; and had a couple of chats with friends – including a short visit with Rebecca and Jenny when we crossed paths.

By comparison, our actual class work wasn't very exciting, and even band practice seemed a bit bland today. There weren't any practical jokes going on at band practice either; though Michael, Rowen, and I heard about more of the jokes from the older teens then. Tim had stayed around the school and played more football while waiting for us, and then we went over to the computer store to study until Michael and I needed to be at my house for dinner. That was an entertaining hour too as we exchanged stories from school, work, and KidZone. Michael and I took care of the clean-up because we hadn't made it home in time to help with making dinner; and then we moved on to our usual Tuesday evening fun.

Mom did a Magi lesson with Michael and me while Dad worked and the twins studied. Michael and I played with Ethan and Ehlana for an hour or so after that; we did the bedtime story and snack with them; and then we had a bit of alone time in the lounge after tucking them in for the night before Michael needed to head home for the night. I can't rank the Michael and me time anywhere near as hot as our play time on Saturday night was, but we did have fun; and I'm a happy camper tonight as I write this and wind down.

I haven't had all that much time to work on my studies and family business jobs since Michael left, so I've needed to use a bit of Magi power to get everything done without staying up late. That part of the new plan isn't working out so well; and I may need to give up on the pre-midnight bedtime if I can't get my work done without regular time-phases. I've written about the why for that before, and that problem remains as a bigger deal while I'm still in this growth stage. While some girls my age want to look older and more mature, I don't care about things like that; and I definitely don't want to actually be physically older than my age. While I'm thinking about that, though, I'm going to check back on my memories in about seventeen years and check to see if the same girls that want to be older now will be the same women that don't want to turn thirty – like Grandma Eleanor.

There isn't anything to write about from my studying and work tonight, and the only emails of interest tonight were all related to Aunt Grace's pregnancy news. The girls in our family are all very excited about that, and Jaimie and Kaitlyn are particularly thrilled that they're going to have a new cousin. Ethan, Ehlana, and I are happy about that too; though they're bound to be closer to their new cousins just because they'll all grow up together. That'll be different for me – more like it is now for Violet and the younger kids in our family. I do sense a lot of babysitting in my near future; but that's something I'm happy to deal with when it also means that I get to be part of such an awesome family.

That's all I have for tonight, and the Magi lesson and time-phasing has me tired out; so I'd better wrap this up and head off to sleep so I'll be ready for a couple of work days.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

We've had lots of rain today, but as I mentioned last night; that wasn't a big deal for me because I was indoors and working today anyway. It actually makes it easier to work when I don't wish I was outdoors enjoying warm weather and playing with my friends instead.

Working on the family business wasn't quite as easy because a lot of my work had to do with summertime retailing – and even back-to-school planning for the coming school year. How weird is that when we still have nearly three months left to go in this term! That work is at least fairly challenging for me, and while the math and accounting would be boring for pretty much every other kid my age; there are fun parts to the job too – like getting the advance look at upcoming fashion, toys, and electronics.

With April Fool's Day past us, it was a quiet day around school. The rain kept us indoors; and Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I even did a bit of our homework at lunchtime instead of leaving everything for when we were doing our after-school study session in the conference room at Landry's. There really isn't anything newsworthy to report from school, and while our study time was fun; it also didn't take long to get our assignments done and move on to our respective part-time jobs.

Other than stopping for dinner, my Magi lesson, and to do the bedtime routine with Ethan and Ehlana; I've spent the rest of the evening on my family business work and about an hour of language study. I don't have anything specific to write about for any of that, and it was a quiet email day too; so that's pretty much all I have for tonight. I'm going to be sleeping on time tonight, and haven't needed to use time-phasing to make that happen; so even that's worked out for a change. I'm still ready for the down time, and we are going to have a long day tomorrow; so that's all for now. Until next time...

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

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Happy 34th Birthday, Owen!

Rowen and I don't need to know how happy his big day has been – or at least how it's ending. She's spending the night here and Patrick is at Scott's house; so her parents are kid-free for the night.

Getting to have a school night sleepover and the birthday dinner at the Inn were both bonuses today; but everything else was fairly normal for a Thursday. More rain and even some thundershowers kept us – and everything else – on the damp side today on the few occasions we actually went outside; but we kept that to a minimum too. The rain didn't really affect our plans for the day much anyway – other than keeping us indoors at lunchtime when we'd have rather been out.

My morning included birthday hugs and kisses for Rowen's father when I stopped in early to do that and wish him a happy birthday while collecting Rowen on the way to school. I didn't do the birthday gift thing then because Michael and I did a joint gift this year; so we gave it to him at the dinner instead. Parental birthdays barely make the news network at school unless the person is also a teacher, so Owen's birthday wasn't a big deal there. Other than going out to lunch at Sheldon's with Dad and some of the other guys, his work day was fairly uneventful too.

While our school day was mostly uneventful, the action started picking up a bit when we got to the Inn after being set free for the day. With a big birthday party group added to the usual Thursday night dinner crowd, Miranda and Jacob had extra staff in to handle the extra business. Michael, Rebecca, and I tried to help out by getting our homework done quickly so that we could work the prep lines too – especially since two out of three of us were attending the birthday party – or at least part of it. Those hours between getting out of school and the start of game night were really just a fun, happy blur for me; and even the work before and after dinner was mostly entertaining.

Rowen, Tim, Michael, and I were at a 'kids' table with Ethan, Ehlana, Patrick, and Scott for dinner, and though Rowen and Patrick spent some time with their father too; the rest of us were mostly on the outside of the birthday action while the adults happily roasted their friend while having their meals. There was some minor weird here and there, including when Owen opened the gift that Rowen and Tim had jointly gotten for him. I have no idea why that seemed strange to me because I didn't feel quite the same way when Michael and I did our first joint gift for my father last fall. Maybe it's simply because Owen is having a tougher time with his little girl growing up than my father is. Of course that might be different for Ehlana than me; but we'll see how that turns out in another nine years or so.

For some reason, Rowen's parents didn't feel the need to stay for game night, so they went home after dinner. Michael and I were back in the kitchen by then, so Rowen and Tim helped out with setting up the dining room for the gaming while we were busy anyway. The kitchen clean-up took longer than usual for a Thursday night, so a few of us were late getting started on our first round of games. That didn't really affect how Michael and I played tonight, but we also weren't in danger of winning the junior championship either. Playing with Ethan, Ehlana, and our friends was fun, though; and we didn't mind the lack of success.

One more bonus for tonight was that Rowen and I got to do a Magi lesson together. We really haven't had many chances to do that lately; so that was an entertaining hour of fun with Mom after we got home and tucked Ethan and Ehlana in for the night. Rowen hopped into my Jacuzzi after that and I got started on my studies and family business work while she soaked in the tub. There was no way that I was going to get my work done by midnight tonight, and Rowen and I have had lots to talk about since she climbed into bed with Mandy and me an hour ago; but we're both pretty much ready to crash now and need to get what sleep we can to be ready for school – and the upcoming weekend.

We don't really have much planned for the next few days so far, but there will be yard work again; and the parents were talking about a night out for them on Saturday, so babysitting may be in my future if they work that out. The downside of that could be a serious lack of Michael and me alone time this weekend; but Mom and Dad really don't get to go out and play with their friends often enough; so we'll make the sacrifice if needed. I'll keep you posted on how that goes, but for now; that's all I have, so...

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

Friday, April 4, 2014

Happy 1st Birthday, Hailey!

Birthday parties when your parents own the Olde Bakery are always going to be popular even if Hailey and her friends are a bit young to appreciate that right now. I'd have been happy to help out with the party in exchange for some bakery treats; but Hannah and Nathan had lots of family and friends help already. While Ehlana and I weren't involved in Hailey's birthday action, Ethan was invited to the party – though he was there to keep Aiden company while his house was invaded by a group of little girls – most of them close to Hailey's age; like Leah Ayres and Rebekkah Burroughs.

While my day wasn't birthday party exciting, we did have a pretty good day at school; and getting set free for the weekend is always popular with the kids, teens, and even most of the teachers. I know – hard to believe; but true all the same! The temperature here plunged to near-freezing this morning from the rainy, humid highs of yesterday afternoon, but at least it wasn't raining anymore; and we were outdoors again both at lunch time and after school.

There isn't anything all that exciting to write about from school today, and even our after school play time really only included some biking and a snack break by the falls because everything was still fairly wet from the rain we've had over the past two days. Dinner and a movie night was at Aunt Leanne and Uncle Adam's house this week, and Michael and I were on our own for that because Rowen and Tim had other plans for the evening that they hoped would include at least a little bit of alone time. I really wish that Michael and I could have managed a bit of that too; but it didn't happen for us tonight.

What we did instead was fun too, though; and I especially loved getting to spend some time with Aunt Grace and Uncle Mark – the first chance I've had for that since their big announcement earlier this week. In addition to the usual gang, we also had Pastor John and Stacey there for dinner while their daughter was at Hailey's party; and I always love getting to spend some time with them too. Aunt Deborah and Uncle Nick only stayed for dinner too because they went to collect Leah from the party too and move on to other plans for the evening; so we actually had a fairly small group for the movie part of our night. We did still have Aunt Grace and Uncle Mark with us, though, so the movie needed to be toddler-appropriate while Ehlana played 'normal' kid; so we watched 'The Nut Job' and mostly had a nice long chat while being entertained by the busy little animated animals.

Mom and Dad needed to get Ethan from the Draper's house after that, so Michael and I helped with the post-movie clean-up while they did that; we eventually did the goodbye hugs and kisses with our grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousin; and then we went home for the night. Michael did the bedtime story and snack with us; we tucked the twins in for the night; and then we ended up having a chat with Mom and Dad in the office until it was time for Michael to go home for the night. That chat was mostly to go over plans for tomorrow night, since the parents' night out is confirmed now; and Michael and I are both part of the babysitting crew now. Rowen and Tim have been drafted too, but we'll also have some dinnertime supervision from Alicia – and maybe Erin Green – while Michael's busy at the Inn. Having a gang of kids here isn't going to be particularly romantic for us, but having everyone stay for a sleepover should be fun – and a little alone time with Michael isn't completely out of the question. ;^)

We are going to have a very long, busy day, though; so I'd better wrap this up and get some sleep so I'll be ready for the babysitting challenge – and able to stay awake if Michael and I do get to have some alone time! Our parents may collectively be expecting to have more fun than we will; but I'm actually fired up about a play evening with my brother, sister, cousins, and some of our friends – even if some of us will be technically 'working' too.

Then again, would you need to guess about whether I'll be dreaming about play time with babies, toddlers, and kids tonight or quality alone time with Michael? I didn't think you would, and I'm going to get on with that right now; so...

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

Saturday, April 5, 2014

We have a house full of kids and teens here tonight; and while that might not be fair for Mom and Dad when so many other parents get a kid-free night; there aren't that many houses with as much space as we have, and Mom and Dad don't actually mind having a whole gang here once in a while.

It was much quieter here this morning for Tai Chi and breakfast. Michael came over for both today, and starting and ending our day with hugs and kisses was great; though he went home after breakfast to do his chores before helping out at the Inn during the lunch rush while I was busy working with Mom and Dad anyway. We've had fairly nice weather today once it started warming up; but it was a bit chilly working outside this morning. The spring clean-up to-do list is getting smaller now, though we need some consistently warmer days before we'll be able to plant the gardens. Today, I split my time between working in the yard with Dad and doing housework with Mom; and we kept busy until stopping for lunch at around one o'clock.

I was set free for a few hours after helping with the lunch clean-up; and went biking with Michael, Rowen, and Tim while Michael was on his afternoon break. We went out into the valley to the west of town and just wandered around for a couple of hours and touring random country roads. When Michael needed to be back at the Inn, Rowen and I headed to my house to help out with pre-dinner work; and Tim went on to play some football – though he joined us for dinner instead of waiting to come over with Michael once he was finished for the night at the Inn.

Alicia and Erin were both at the house by the time Rowen and I got there; and it wasn't long before the kids began arriving too. Jessica, Ryan, and Sophia Bassett were first; followed by Naomi and Aiden. Leah and Zack are with us tonight too; though they weren't dropped off until shortly before the parents were meeting for dinner at the Inn. With five toddlers to feed, our meal was appropriately kid-friendly, and while Erin supervised; Rowen and I did most of the work while taking turns helping Alicia with the kids. Mom and Dad were getting ready for their date while we were doing that; and they were just getting ready to leave by the time we were ready to feed the troops.

The low-mess, all finger food dinner was a hit – even with Tim; since he couldn't exactly get away with happy face fries and other little-kid food in just about any other situation without risking damage to his reputation with the guys. We did need to make quite a bit more of everything than we would have without Tim there; though some of the extra was because we guessed that Ryan would need to try and keep up with Tim. Watching all of the boys eat was just a little scary; though they kept us entertained too.

Alicia and Erin had date plans tonight with their boyfriends; but they stayed until after Michael came over and mostly helped with Leah and Zack while Tim, Rowen, and I kept the rest of the kids entertained. By the time they left, Zack and Leah were either both sleeping, or we only had one of them to deal with at a time. Jessica was easy to watch, and she helped with the babies nearly every time Rowen or I were taking care of them.

Tim easily kept Ryan, Ethan, and Aiden entertained with video gaming action in the lounge, while Ehlana, Naomi, and Sophia were happy to play some music for a while and then play games in my room that included everything from playing with dolls and toys to a round of hide-and-seek. It was time to get the younger kids ready for bed when Michael joined us, but once they were changed; we all moved into the lounge to watch a movie so they could wind down first.

Cuddling with Michael, Ethan, and Aiden while we did that was one of my favorite parts of the night; though I also needed to feed a bottle to Zack and change two diapers during the show. It was easy enough to get the five two and three-year old kids into bed once the movie was over – especially since two of them were already sleeping by then anyway. It took all four of us to get that done with some more bonus help from Jessica; and then we only had Jessica and Ryan with us after that – not including one more round of baby time with Leah and Zack.

The feeding with Zack conveniently gave Michael and I an excuse to be downstairs because Jessica and Ryan were in bed by then too, so we gave Rowen and Tim the alone time in the lounge while we gave Zack his bottle while cuddling in the living room. That wasn't exactly romantic for us; but Rowen and Tim definitely appreciated the break in the babysitting action. We had Zack back in bed and were in the lounge again when Mom and Dad got home from Sheldon's. Rowen had dozed off for a while, but was awake when they stopped into the lounge to check in on us. Michael and Tim headed to their rooms on the second floor after we'd done the mini-update for both our babysitting and the night out at the Inn and pub while Rowen and I went with Mom and Dad to do a bedroom check before they went to bed for the night.

Rowen and I might have checked in on our boyfriends too before coming up to my room – just to make sure they were comfortable and had everything they needed, of course; so that's when Michael and I did our goodnight hugs and kisses. While I still wanted to do my usual bedtime computing, Rowen didn't stay awake for very long once we were in bed; and it's been very quiet since then – especially compared to earlier when the kids were all busy and fairly noisy.

There isn't any news to report on from my computer checks or email, and it is getting very late; so I'd better wrap this up. Leah may not wake up again tonight, but Zack probably will; and I'll try to take that feeding too so that Mom or Dad don't have to get up.

Maybe Michael will wake up too, and we'll manage a bit of alone time after all! A girl can dream; and I'm going to do just that starting right about now.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Sunday, April 6, 2014

My day started out a bit on the crazy side of busy, and some extra-early play time with Zack meant that I didn't get much sleep last night; so I've skipped most of my school night work and studies tonight so that I can catch up on that lost down time.

After having my little nap, I was up with Zack pretty much until it was time for Tai Chi. Mom and Dad didn't get much sleep either, but they took over with Zack and had Leah to deal with too while letting Michael and I exercise with Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden. That was the only quiet time we had through until we got to church, and I'm sure that you don't need the details to guess how busy we were getting all of the kids fed and ready for the day; dealing with all of the work; and taking turns getting ourselves ready for church too. I was seriously ready for a nap by the time Michael and I sat down in the sanctuary with his parents and Rebecca; so it's probably a good thing that we had Sunday school, or I might have fallen asleep during the sermon.

It almost felt like the house was empty by comparison when we went home for lunch, but that was okay with all of us as we wound down from the too-busy morning. Dad had cooked the full country breakfast for us, so we really just went with a snack for lunch. I blasted through my own school homework after that in just a few minutes instead of doing a study session with Michael, Tim, and Rowen; mostly because it's been too nice a day to waste Michael's afternoon break studying instead of playing. Once I had that out of the way, I hooked up the trailer to my bike and took Ethan and Ehlana for a bike ride around town before going on to the park. We collected Rowen and Tim along the way, and had some playground fun time while waiting for Michael to join us there.

Rowen, Ehlana, and I were not surprised when a pick-up football game was put together – Tim had brought the football and started setting that up this morning during Sunday school. The guys started showing up shortly before Michael caught up with us, and the game was on soon after. Football leaves Michael and me with less time to spend together while he's out on the field, but Ethan still loves his cameo football moments with Michael; and Rowen, Ehlana, and I managed to stay entertained while our favorite boys were busy.

We had a snack picnic and a bit more playground time after the football, and when Michael needed to get back to the Inn; I took Ethan and Ehlana home first and cleaned up a bit before joining him at the Inn to help out with the buffets. Before I get to that, I want to mention that one of the reasons I took the twins with me this afternoon was to give Mom and Dad a break. This might be shocking to some of you, but they actually took advantage of that kid-free time for a nap instead of working. Okay, the smiles strongly suggested that they didn't sleep the entire time we were out; but the point here is that they did take the time off – even though that meant more work for both of them after dinner.

The nice weather didn't seem to have any effect on the buffet crowd today, and we had a full house for both sittings tonight. Michael, Rebecca, and I had fun while we worked, and we had another meal break out by the river instead of at the table in the back room; but we were also very busy too and those hours sped by – and really tired me out after running all day on almost no sleep. That might be why Miranda sent both Michael and me home before the clean-up from the second buffet really got started. She probably didn't expect us to spend a half hour saying goodnight in a mostly non-verbal way at Michael's house before I went on to my house; but I'm also sure that she'll think it's funny when she finds out about the delay between when she set us free and when I actually got home – assuming she doesn't know that already.

I wouldn't exactly rank that alone time with Michael as particularly hot because we were both tired; but it was sweet, comforting, and heart-warming. After getting home, I helped with getting Ethan and Ehlana through their baths and ready for bed before we did the snack and story time with Dad in the office. Mom and I tucked them in for the night and then she took it easy on me with my Magi lesson tonight. I was in my room for the night by shortly before ten, and limited the rest of my computer work to what I could get done while soaking in my Jacuzzi for a half hour. I cheated getting my hair dried after that, and climbed into bed with Mandy by a bit after ten-thirty.

This update and my email check were all I had left to do, and even with the usual Sunday night college teen email updates, it didn't take long to get through that; and there really isn't much news from my favorite collegians. They're all mostly just busy with their school work right now, and while it seems strange to me when I still have two and a half months left in the school year; they're working on finishing major projects now and getting ready for their final exams that are only about a month away now. The great part of that is the countdown to when they'll be home for the summer.

Thinking about summer seems strange right now too when we seem to be having trouble getting spring started this year, but we are getting there; and maybe I'll get more excited about that once I've caught up on my sleep. Right now, thinking at all is getting tougher by the minute, so that's all I have for tonight; and I'm heading off to some overdue unconscious time. Until next time...

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

Monday, April 7, 2014

We still have Easter to go between now and then, but the top news at school today – at least for the Grade Eight students – was the upcoming trip to Washington that's now just three weeks away. Uncle Nick had information packages for us today that included everything from flight and hotel details to our itinerary for the week. That information has all of us getting fired up about our biggest school trip ever so far, and for me; getting to spend that week with Michael, Rowen, Tim, and the rest of our friends is going to be the best part of our adventure to the capitol.

What we'll be doing will be fun too; though the political cynic in me wouldn't mind skipping the attempts at indoctrination we'll be subjected to during some of our activities. I really don't want to get into that tonight, or really at all; but here's a hint for politicians in general – kids and teens aren't nearly as stupid as you'd like to think we are. If you think that's scary, you'd be terrified to know that you're about to have a teenage Magi Master in your town with empathic and telepathic abilities that don't require overt use – especially when emotions and thoughts are strong enough.

In other words; I have an extremely effective built-in B.S. detector; and there is a lot of that going on around our nation's capitol. There's a very good chance that I'll need to keep my big mouth shut fairly often while we're there – particularly when we're touring Capitol Hill. If we actually get up close and personal with very many senators or congresspersons it might be scary for me to find out just how much more education I'll get than planned by our teachers; and those politicians might be terrified if they ever found out that their secrets weren't so secret anymore.

There are times when I wonder if my abilities could make things better in government, but putting that kind of honesty into politics – at least openly – would probably just be very hazardous to my health. Hopefully I'll be able to do more through our family business and dealing with Dark Magi instead. What does it say about me that the prospect of confrontations with Dark Magi doesn't seem as scary to me as fighting the federal government does? ;^)

Let's move along to the rest of the news from today.

We've had another fairly decent weather day, so Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I spent as much time outdoors as we could – including at lunchtime and after school. There was some football action at noon and later when we were at the park before dinner. Rowen and I played to after having our lunches; but we were only spectators for the game at the park. Parental tolerance for our study time shifting is in our favor for now while the nice days are still hit and miss this spring; but that'll probably change before much longer so we'll enjoy the breaks while they last. Then again, as the daylight hours get longer; playing after dinner will be more of an option too – especially once it doesn't cool of quite so much each night.

I've skipped over the class work action, and this week; we're doing some testing in most subjects along with ramping up the Easter-themed lessons and activities. The Easter fun is still more geared toward the younger kids; but even themed math problems can be more fun than the standard questions. Going outside for Phys-Ed was an option again today too; and after going for a run on the track, we ended the school day with some soccer fun.

Michael came home with me after school and we hooked up the trailer to my bike so that we could take Ethan and Ehlana with us for our biking and play plans. He grabbed his bike too, and then we met up with Rowen and Tim for a construction site tour before going on to the park. The guys were already getting together by then for the football scrimmage, so we did that first. Ethan got to have a couple of football moments with Michael, and Rowen, Ehlana, and I sat around on the bleachers and talked with some of the other girls for a while; but Rowen and I eventually took the twins to the playground so they could have some fun there while Michael and Tim stayed and played football until it was time for all of us to head to our homes for dinner. I needed to drop off Ethan and Ehlana at home first and then take my computer bag with me to Michael's so I'd have it when we needed to do our homework; so I didn't get to his house until dinner was almost ready to go.

The meal that Jacob made for us was as awesome as always, and I wouldn't trade the after-school play time for the earlier study session; but doing that work after finishing dinner and cleaning up definitely takes some of the fun out of our usual evenings at Michael's house. Maybe we should think about doing that on the nights we're at my house instead – then we could use a little Magi power to shorten our study time down to minutes instead of working at 'normal' speed the way we need to when we're at his place. Michael and I still made time for my guitar lesson, and we had a short visit with his parents and Rebecca before I needed to go home; but we didn't get any alone time. So far, we're not having much success with making more time for that in our schedule; but I'll keep hoping that'll work out for us eventually.

By the way, I didn't mention it on the weekend, but Rebecca told me about her Saturday night sleepover at Jenny's when we had some time to talk without the boys around; and then we heard a bit too much information about Miranda and Jacob's kid-free night. That's again something that gets weirder as I move into the teen years, and while I'm glad that our parents have romance in their lives; this is also a case where less information would be okay with me.

Even with the extra study time tonight, I still made it home early enough to have a chat with Ethan and Ehlana before tucking them into bed for the night. Mom did a long shielding lesson with me that included playing around with some ideas we've had about improving different kinds of shields – and layering them for different purposes. That was fun, but it also put me behind on my bedtime study and work plans. It was already after eleven o'clock by the time I hopped into bed with Mandy; and I've worked for the past three hours on my language studies, an archive assignment, and an hour and a half of family business work that I really needed to get done tonight so that I could take advantage of an opportunity with a very small window that's going to make us a nice little profit while helping one of our charities with some much-needed jobs for their clients.

I'm ready to wrap this up and head off to sleep now, but before I do that; there are a couple of changes coming up to my normal school week plans. Michael has a Bassett family function to go to tomorrow night, so we won't be hanging out together – mostly because boyfriends and girlfriends aren't on the invite list. That's going to work out for me anyway because Patrick's birthday is on Wednesday; and Rowen and I are going to help her mother with getting everything ready for the party before leaving the house so that Patrick and his buddies can party without us around. Rowen's staying with me for a sleepover too; so our usual work day plans won't be happening for either of us. Since I won't be hanging out with Michael as usual tomorrow night; I'll do my family business work night after dinner instead.

It's still going to be a busy couple of days, though, and I'd better get started on the down time I can get tonight; so...

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

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

I'm so used to Michael's life revolving around the Inn it's sometimes easy to forget that he has a fairly large extended family – particularly on the Bassett side; and they actually manage to do things together occasionally.

That isn't always easy for them to do – particularly when they need to juggle running the Inn, the grocery store, and the gas station – along with the jobs and activities everyone else in the family has on the go. I also don't really think about the times that I do things with my family that Michael can't do with me for whatever the different reasons; but I certainly noticed not being together tonight while he was busy – particularly when it's one of the nights where we occasionally get to have some alone time together. The fact that we don't always actually get to do that didn't get in the way of my imagining what might have been while I worked in the office tonight.

Let's get on with the rest of the report for today before I start thinking about that too much and get distracted again. That happened too often already tonight.

It was a fairly quiet day at school. We wrote a couple of tests and worked on a group project that's due next week. For our class, the trip to Washington was still big news; but Gil's birthday party in Crystal Springs on Saturday was a close second. Gil had a limit for how many friends he could invite, so I was a bit surprised to be on the guest list this year; but that probably had more to do with him wanting Michael and Tim there for both Rowen and me. Who is in and out for events like this does cause some minor stress – and a bit of jealousy – but in Gil's case; he doesn't actually care about that much. Even though he's one of the oldest in our class, his girlfriend, Alicia, is in Grade Seven; and he's as comfortable hanging out with her friends as with any of us.

There is the potential for some teen weird for Michael and me that'll go with spending the day with Gil and the other teens – Roger is his best friend, and now that he's dating Lisa; they'll be with us for Gil's party too. It isn't as though we haven't been around each other for dances and every day at school, but that isn't the same as spending the entire day together in a fairly small group. Lisa and I haven't exactly gone out of our way to be buddies either, so it could be interesting. I like Lisa just fine, and we got along well-enough before I got in the way of her future plans with Michael; but she may need more time before giving me another chance at friendship – even though she's been dating Roger for going on six months now.

Michael and I will deal with that on Saturday, but whatever happens with that; we do still get to spend the entire day together and that definitely works for both of us!

The only other action worth mentioning from school is band practice. We practiced the music that some of the older teens are going to be playing at church over the Easter weekend, and though it's very unlikely that we'll be needed; Michael, Rowen, and I are all back-ups should anyone get sick or be unable to play at the Good Friday and Easter Sunday services. Those teens are practicing with the teen praise team and the other teens too; but they're getting the teaching support during our band practices because their little ensemble won't have a conductor for any of those services.

The slightly cooler weather today didn't keep Tim from playing more football after school today while waiting for us to finish band practice; so he was a happy camper when we met up and moved on to the computer store for a short study session before Michael needed to get home and his family fun plans. Since we didn't have much time to work, we mostly worked on our group projects and left our individual assignments to do on our own later. That worked out okay for me, since I was able to do the rest of that work in Magi mode and it only took a few minutes to finish.

I did most of my work tonight with a little Magi power assistance; so I got a lot of work and studying done between dinnertime and when I came up to bed for the night. Mom skipped my Magi lesson tonight because I was doing a fair bit of Magi multi-tasking anyway that was as good as a lesson; so I was able to work straight through until bedtime. I didn't even do the bedtime story and snack with Ethan and Ehlana.

Some Jacuzzi time was in order, though; and I did my nightly computer checks and email while I was in the tub. This journal update was all I had left to do by the time I climbed into bed with Mandy a few minutes ago, and even with everything I got done tonight and the Jacuzzi time; I'll still be sleeping before midnight. This hasn't been as much fun tonight as my usual Tuesday night action, but getting the work done was good; and Rowen and I will have fun tomorrow night instead – even if we also end up staying up too late on a school night with our sleepover.

That reminds me that I'll need to allow some extra time in the morning to go over to her house and give Patrick his birthday gift before school so that I don't do that after school when his buddies are all there. Michael won't be there too, and even though we're giving Patrick a joint gift; he won't be able to do that with me after school either, so it isn't a big deal.

I do need to wrap this up and get off to sleep now, though, so that's all I have for tonight. Until next time...

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

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Happy 11th Birthday, Patrick!

Mother Nature decided to give him some great weather for his big day, and while I didn't get to enjoy much of that warm and sun with Michael; Rowen and I had some playground fun with Ethan and Ehlana after dinner.

While Patrick is fast-approaching the borderline for what are and aren't cool toys, Rowen, Tim, Michael, and I went with giving him a pair of radio-controlled boats that he and his buddies have already had out racing on the river; and I think we had a hit with our choice. I know, and you may be thinking, that boys of all ages love to play with radio-controlled toys, and that is true; but those toys get a lot more expensive as the boys get older and probably won't be in some of our budgets anytime soon no matter how much Patrick would love to have gas-powered planes, helicopters, cars, or boats.

Giving Patrick his gifts was the most entertaining part of the morning for Rowen and me; and he even managed to get through a birthday hug and kiss from me without getting too embarrassed or flustered. He walked to school with us and stayed long enough to thank Michael and Tim for the boats; but then he was off and running to enjoy the day with Scott and the rest of his buddies. After that, the highlight of our school day was the weather – getting to be outdoors at lunchtime and for Phys-Ed. There was more football after we ate our lunches, but Rowen and I split our time between watching Michael and Tim play and going for a walk around the schoolyard. We had track and field in Phys-Ed; though we mostly did track work because the field's still too soft for some of the other activities.

Since Rowen and I needed to head over to her house right after school to help her mother with the pre-party work in the kitchen and yard. Michael and Tim still went to Tim's house to study before going on to their usual Wednesday night work at the Inn and auto shop; though some football action may have gotten in their way for a while before they managed to get to the studying. Helping Patricia was mostly fun; though that started going downhill once Patrick and his friends arrived and they started acting like a typical pack of ten and eleven-year old boys. Rowen was really glad that she didn't have to stay for the party; and we were both ready to leave when it was time for us to get home and have dinner with my family. Patricia was not really joking when she begged us to take her along; though she wasn't seriously going to leave Owen on his own with the gang of boys.

Compared to the action going on at the Emerson's house, we had a very quiet evening. Dad grilled some chicken on the barbeque to go with the side dishes Mom whipped up for us, and though Rowen missed out on the Olde Bakery birthday cake at her house; we had pie and ice cream for dessert. Our work at her house didn't count at mine, so Rowen and I were on the clean-up crew after dinner; but then we headed out for the play time at the park with Ethan and Ehlana.

We spent an hour or so there, and then Rowen and I did our homework in the lounge while Ethan and Ehlana studied in the office – where Mom and Dad had been working since we'd left for the park. Being on our own to study allowed us to speed up our work with a little Magi power; and that gave us time for some music fun before we went downstairs to do the bedtime routine with the twins. Once Ethan and Ehlana were tucked in for the night, Mom did a Magi lesson with Rowen and me; and that was my favorite part of the night. We definitely need to start doing that more often again than we have lately, though as usual; I have no idea how to fit that in along with everything else I'd like to be doing but never seem to have time for.

I also haven't written about Rowen's actual Magi development in quite a while; so let's take a moment to do that. Her grandmother thinks that her development is affected by her bonus lessons with Mom; the training tips that Mom is passing on to all Magi mentors; and our ability to use our talents without adult supervision now that I can shield. She's right about that, but while we're helping Rowen reach her full Magi potential; she's also still one of the strongest Magi of our generation. Her strengths include the elements and transmutation; and while she's only at the very beginning of her shielding lessons, she's showing the potential to be as good at that as Uncle Adam is – and he's one of the best in his generation. Rowen isn't as strong in telepathy, empathy, or telekinesis; but that's still relative to others and she'd rank somewhere in the middle of the pack from strongest to weakest in all three areas. That will fluctuate a bit until we're adults, but while Rowen can still do amazing things; she probably won't be holding up any major farm equipment or airplanes anytime soon. She'll have to settle for the equivalent of cars, trucks, and maybe the occasional bus.

I'm still hoping that we'll get to test those abilities someday soon in a more practical way than just applying forces against each other and measuring the results. That just isn't as cool as moving big objects around would be!

Moving along, Rowen borrowed my Jacuzzi when we came up to my room for the night; and I did most of my studying and family business work while she was in the tub. We had a bit of hair play time while she was getting ready for bed; and we've been chatting and surfing the internet since climbing into bed with Mandy. I've done my usual bedtime computer checks too, though there isn't anything going on worth mentioning from any of that. We've mostly just been having fun with the best friend chat time and watching some funny YouTube videos. We're not quite ready to call it a night yet, but I don't have anything else to add to this update; so I'm going to wrap it up and sit back and enjoy whatever entertainment Rowen finds for us until we are ready to nap. This may not have been birthday party fun, but mid-week sleepovers are a lot better than our usual Wednesday night part-time jobs; so it's been a really good day for both of us. With game night and another warm day to look forward to tomorrow; I hope the fun will keep on coming for the rest of the week and weekend.

Here's hoping that'll happen, but I'm out of here for now; so...

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

Thursday, April 10, 2014

We were finally able to take our Tai Chi outside this morning; and I've really missed being able to exercise out by the river. After months of indoor practice, Michael, Ethan, and Ehlana were also happy that they could take their 'public' Tai Chi to the next level. I'm sure that everyone watching us this morning from neighboring houses were impressed; though they're all still holding back now too – particularly Ethan and Ehlana. Having not-quite-three-year old kids knowing how to do the most advanced Tai Chi would get way too much attention – even though they could do the long forms with Mom and Dad if not for that little problem. For now, Michael and I do our forms with them; and Mom and Dad do their own thing instead.

That was the highlight of my morning, and it also helped to fire me up quite a bit too. Having Rowen over was enough of an excuse for us to score a pancakes and bacon breakfast, and we followed that up with some hair and dress-up play time; so it was about as good a start to a school day as any girl can hope for.

Let's not forget good morning hugs and kisses with Michael either; but then they manage to put a smile on my face every day!

Compared to the start of our day, our school time wasn't all that exciting. We had another couple of tests; there was more football at lunch time; and it was a fairly quiet afternoon. Every kid and teen is getting excited about the weekend, and while some of us have a birthday adventure in Crystal Springs to look forward to; that's mostly just because we're supposed to have near-summer temperatures for the next couple of days. I have mixed feelings about that because we'll be away on Saturday instead of biking or canoeing; but then Michael would have been working anyway if we weren't going away so I'll take the play time with him and be happy about it.

We had some play time tonight that was fun – even when we were studying or helping out during the dinner rush. There isn't much to write about form any of that, but since there won't be a game night next week because of Easter; Miranda had themed games and prizes tonight for everyone to enjoy. While I was as entertained as anyone by the often-silly games; I think that my favorite part of the evening was seeing the younger kids getting to win prizes – and the junior championship; earning more points than most of the teens and even some of the adults.

I'm sure there's a similar explanation for why Grandpa Grant and Grandma Eleanor won the senior championship. On the flip side, we also won't analyze why some of the smartest people in town didn't do so well with games like pin the tail on the bunny. The worst example of that might be that Aunt Leanne cheated; and still ended up putting the cottontail on Uncle Adam's butt instead of the bunny's.

Good thing we weren't playing darts tonight! ;^)

Michael and I won a few prizes tonight, and then fed the treats to Ethan and Ehlana. Having twin Magi Masters hyped up on sweets just ahead of bedtime might not have been the best idea from Mom and Dad's perspective; but they still went to bed on time tonight – even if they each stayed awake and played on their iPads for a couple of hours after being tucked in for the night.

I stayed at the Inn to help with the gaming clean-up and set-up for breakfast; but then I was home in time to help Mom with getting Ethan and Ehlana bathed and into bed. We did an hour-long Magi lesson after that while Dad did some work in the office; so it was heading toward eleven-thirty by the time I came up to my room and got ready for bed. With the weekend ahead, I had studying and work that needed to get done tonight; and that took a bit more than three hours to get finished. The good news is that I'll be able to take most of the weekend off now except for anything that comes up for the family business that can't wait until next week; so I guess that's worth being this tired – and the lost sleep tonight.

With that in mind, I'm ready to have that few hours of nap time now; so that's all I have for tonight. Until next time...

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

Friday, April 11, 2014

It was cooler this morning, but now that we've been able to exercise outside again, we didn't want to be back indoors again already; and just dressed a bit more warmly so that we could enjoy our morning Tai Chi out by the river. Good morning hugs and kisses with Michael was good too, and while we didn't have a special breakfast today; Michael stayed to grab something quick with us before heading off to get ready for his weight training at the school, so that was fun too.

I could probably come up with a few minor news items from school, but the only thing I'm thinking about tonight is the date night that Michael and Tim set up for Rowen and me for tonight. They might have had a contingency plan if the weather didn't cooperate; but their plan A was to do a picnic and play date; and we've had a perfect spring day for that kind of adventure. Rowen and I didn't find out about it until the last minute, and our boys managed to keep it a surprise even during our after school play time that included some biking and park and playground fun with Ethan and Ehlana. The twins may have been in the know, though; and all of our parents definitely were.

After getting set free from school for the weekend, dropping off computers and bags at our homes, and grabbing bikes, a trailer, and two toddlers; we hit the road for our usual construction site tour. The most obvious and visually dramatic work being done right now is at the new medical center; but I know that there is a lot going on inside at the lab and the first apartment building; and the new home builds are always fun to watch as they progress from a hole in the ground to completion over weeks and months. Ethan and Ehlana are getting more excited about the lab now because they're down to just weeks before they'll start spending time there while Mom starts working with Owen to set up the computer systems.

Ehlana wasn't as excited about the park football action as Ethan was; but she's as patient with him about that as Rowen and I are with Michael and Tim; and we still had fun chatting with some of our friends and the playground time. We also weren't there all that long before it was time for me to take my brother and sister back home – and the boys sprung their Friday night date surprise on us. Michael picked up our picnic supplies and food from the Inn while Rowen and Tim came home with Ethan, Ehlana, and me; and then we went over to Michael's house and had our gourmet picnic for four out by the river.

Michael might be at a dating disadvantage because his parents own the only restaurant in town that teens can go to for a meal, but while taking me to dinner there with the potential to have him Mom for our server might feel strange to him; having a chef for a father and an inside track to getting five-star-worthy special dinners more than makes up for that. I made sure that Jacob and Miranda knew how much we appreciated their help with Michael's and Tim's plans tonight when we saw them after they got home from the Inn with bonus hugs and kisses.

Rowen and I let our boys know that we were very happy and impressed with their efforts too as we enjoyed the amazing food that even included one of our favorite Olde Bakery desserts to go with the delicious entrée and amazing side dishes.

While the meal was the highlight of our date, it was also just the start of our evening entertainment. Michael and Tim followed that up with a long canoe ride; and we paddled upriver for an hour before heading home again. We were on our own for most of that trip; though we had a few cameo visit moments too on the way out of town and on the return trip. That included chats with Mom, Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana; some teasing from Aunt Leanne and Aunt Grace; and a few words on the way past with the Greens on the way out and Nathan, Aiden, and Hailey Draper as we passed their house on the return trip.

There was a short work intermission after we got back to Michael's house as we dealt with canoes and gear; and then we moved indoors and got set up to watch a movie. That definitely felt strange to be doing that with no parental supervision – even though the only difference between tonight and when we've done babysitting at my house is that we were officially on a date. I'm not suggesting that our parents should have any reason not to trust us to be on our own, but it is another teen change; and don't forget that I was nine before I spent much time away from Mom at all except for when I was at school so my perspective is affected by that history.

Letting Rowen and I pick the movie was probably the scariest part of the night for the boys, but we took pity on them a little bit and picked an action-romance flick that at least had enough car chases, fights, and things blowing up to keep them interested. The movie was okay, but I was just happy to spend a couple of hours cuddling with Michael and wouldn't have cared if we'd just listened to music and spent the time talking – though we did a fair bit of chatting during the movie anyway.

Jacob, Miranda, and Rebecca got home shortly before the movie ended, so we paused it for a late intermission so that we could thank Michael's parents and have a little chat with all three of them. That conversation continued as they joined us for the big, explosive show finale and for another fifteen or twenty minutes after that before Jacob and Miranda decided to head off to bed and Michael and Tim needed to walk Rowen and me home. We had a round of goodnight hugs in front of my house before Rowen and Tim moved on to her place; and then Michael and I decided to do our goodnight hugs and kisses on my back porch instead of out front. That had everything to do with not wanting to be doing that in what would have felt like some kind of competition with Rowen and Tim; though we probably had a bit more privacy than they did too.

I know that we would have lost that competition because Michael and I had a little computer chat once we were both in bed; and he let me know that our best friends had still been in a lip-lock when he walked back to his house – and oblivious to his presence just down the street from them. In our defense, my parents were still awake; and we ended our kiss when we heard Mom in the kitchen doing coffee refills for two. Don't feel bad for us – we had more than enough time by then to non-verbally say goodnight to each other properly; and we were happy campers.

The rest of my evening included a chat with Mom and Dad in the office while they wrapped up their work for the night; I stopped in to Ethan's and Ehlana's rooms to kiss them goodnight while they slept; and then I hopped into my Jacuzzi for a quick soak before getting ready for bed and snuggling with Mandy and my computer. Michael and I had our little chat while I was doing my usual nightly computer checks, but he's probably sleeping by now because he's helping out at the Inn for breakfast before we head to Crystal Springs for Gil's birthday adventure with his family and the other teens. I have no idea what we're going to be doing because it's a surprise for Gil, but it is going to be a long, fun day; and I'd better wrap this up and get some sleep, so...

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

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Happy 14th Birthday, Gil!

There's a lot to cover tonight, but my first thought as I begin writing this is about how much things have changed in a year!

Twelve months ago, I was in the middle of a tween drama with Lisa over Michael – even though I wasn't even interested in dating him – or any other guy – back then; Rowen and I were playing dodge the tweird all evening at Gil's party; and my sleepover was at Rowen's house complete with pranks and practical jokes from Patrick and Scott to help end our day with a little more annoyance. For Gil's party this year, the most obvious change is that Michael's my boyfriend now; but we also got along pretty well with Lisa today, there wasn't any teen drama, and my sleepover tonight is at Michael's house! That last part was set up by our parents because Dad's in the city next week and he and Mom are getting the kid-free night that they helped quite a few of their friends get last weekend. Ethan and Ehlana are spending the night with Grandma and Grandpa, and while I'm sure they've had a good day too; it probably hasn't been as much fun as mine has been.

I missed the good morning hugs and kisses with Michael today, but I loved Tai Chi by the river again; and I really hope we'll be able to do that more often than not from now through until the fall. It just isn't quite the same when we're cooped up indoors. We weren't meeting up with Gil and the rest of his family and guests until a quarter after ten with a ten-thirty departure time, so while Michael was helping out at the Inn; I had breakfast and did some work around the house until it was time for me to grab a shower and get ready for the birthday adventure day. The only hint we had about what we were going to be doing today had been instructions to dress to play, so while I took time doing my hair; I dressed in jeans and a casual top – and packed shorts and a matching top to be ready in case we were going to be outdoors when the forecast was for temperatures into the eighties.

I'd been given the sleepover at Michael's house news at breakfast, so I'd needed to pack an overnight bag too, and when it was time to go; I took that with me to drop off at his house when I met up with Michael on the way to the Emporium – where we were meeting everyone before heading for the city. Michael had gone home with enough time to get showered and ready too, and we were delayed for a few minutes while we caught up on the hugs and kisses we'd missed out on before Tai Chi. He also grabbed a change of clothes too after I mentioned it to him; but then we were ready to go, and still managed to get to the Emporium before most of our friends – including Rowen and Tim.

Gil, his parents, girlfriend, sister, Bethany, and one of her friends were there already; along with two minivans. That was just enough room for the fourteen of us; though I was a bit surprised that Gil's parents didn't recruit some extra adult support. Roger and Lisa got there less than a minute after Michael and me; two of Gil's and Alicia's Grade Seven friends – Diana Connor and Julian Sparks – were next; and then Rowen and Tim brought up the rear. The meet and greet didn't take long, and then we loaded up and hit the road. Michael and I were in the minivan with Gil's mother, Beth; Rowen and Tim; and Bethany and her friend, Jordan Taylor. Gil's father had the other six teens with him; and led the way.

The trip to the city was entertaining, and while a lot of things have changed, Bethany still has a great sense of humor; and she kept the conversation funny and fun – particularly for Michael and me since she sat next to us on the back bench seat while Jordan rode shotgun and Rowen and Tim had the middle seats. Our first stop in Crystal Springs was for a fast food lunch; and that's where we found out that the afternoon part of our adventure was going to be go-carts and mini-golf. Gil had a couple of gifts to open at lunch too, but his parents had us keep our gifts for him until dinnertime.

I didn't have much experience with go-carts before today, but it didn't take me long to find out why Gil loves them so much. All of the guys did – including Gil's father, Greg. After watching the action out on the track today, it might be a good idea for the Moms of every teen boy there to be very afraid now that their little angels are coming up on being one year away from being on the roads – even if they'll be starting out with a year of supervised driving before being out on their own. Then again, Greg wiped out his go-cart a few times; yet seemed to be a good driver from what I saw on the trip to the city, so maybe the roads around Witch Falls are in imminent danger from next year's crop of drivers.

We did some of the racing as a group, but split up a bit when it came to playing mini-golf – mostly so we didn't tie up the course for any length of time with our group. I'm my mother's daughter, and admittedly a bit scary when it comes to timing putts and working out angles; so at least two of my friends weren't surprised when I aced the mini-golf course; and had by far the lowest score of our group. Rowen and Tim had golfed with Michael and me, but both boys were more interested in getting back to the track than in the game – which might have something to do with why Rowen came in second for our foursome.

While Gil's parents had booked a party pack of tickets for the go-carts and mini-golf, picking up more tickets was an option; and an anonymous donor that you might know from these journals picked up enough tickets to even keep all of the boys happy through until it was time to go for dinner. Before I move on to that part of the story, I should mention that the weather was every bit as great as forecast for us; though I heard later that there had been some short thundershowers pass through Witch Falls this afternoon while we were away. Those of us who could changed into shorts and tees for the afternoon, and then got changed again before we headed over to the surf and turf restaurant for Gil's birthday dinner.

I'm not going to rank the food tonight anywhere near Jacob's best; but my dinner – and Michael's – was really very good. I know that because we ordered two different meals and then shared so we could each try both; and we were probably the most adventurous diners in our little group. While I loved the food, our dinner conversation and entertainment was the best part of that couple of hours; and where Michael and I had the most fun with Roger and Lisa. Rowen and I had spent some time with Lisa; Gil's girlfriend, Alicia; and Diana in between our own trips around the go-cart track and had gotten along really well. It was sitting close together at dinner and chatting that really seemed to help Lisa in particular to terms with the fact that we actually like each other – and that she's happier with a boyfriend who is over the moon for her instead of Michael – even if she still has a minor thing for him. Roger has always gotten along well-enough with Michael, though they're not really close friends; but I think we're on the way to where we can be better friends with them now. We'll see how it goes.

There was a time limit for dinner because we were wrapping up the birthday adventure with a night at the movies. We needed to make it there for the early shows, though; so we ended up being a bit rushed getting through the cake and dessert – and having Gil open his gifts. I won't go into all of that, other than to mention that Gil loved the gifts and had a great time at dinner.

For the movie, it was guys' choice for Gil and his friends; so it was no surprise that they picked the new Captain America movie. Gil's parents took Bethany and Jordan to see the 'Rio' sequel instead; and had most of us girls wishing we were with them – except for the fact that we wouldn't have traded that if it meant missing out on the boyfriend time. It's not as if any of us were making out like crazy or anything; but I did love holding hands with Michael; sharing snacks and drinks; and having fun with our friends while watching a half-decent action-fantasy flick. There were a few kisses here and there too that were nice too; but we were nowhere near winners if that particular category had been a competition.

There was a switch-up for the drive home; though Tim, Rowen, Michael, and I were still in the minivan with Gil's mother – and Gil and Alicia; so that they could spend that time with the five of us. The slightly bad news there was that one of us had to ride shotgun – and two of us couldn't sit with our boyfriend or girlfriend. Michael and I lost that competition, and he sat in the back again while I kept Gil's mother company in the front seat. That wasn't very romantic; but then I was the only girlfriend doing a sleepover at her boyfriend's house tonight so I can't really complain at all!

Michael and I were dropped off by a bit after eleven o'clock, and while his parents had already gone to bed by then after a long busy day; Miranda and Rebecca both came downstairs to see us and get the condensed daily recap from us. That took a half hour, and Michael and I got drinks and a snack together while we did that; and then we moved into the living room to watch a movie and cuddle for a while before going to bed.

Okay – we were only interested in making out for a while; but Miranda didn't actually believe our movie excuse anyway so it isn't as if we were fooling anyone.

The movie was bad; we didn't care; and when Michael and I did finally go up to our beds, we were very happy campers. The kiss goodnight outside of my bedroom door was fairly serious too; which is why I'm not quite ready to sleep yet – and have been doing an extended bedtime computer check since getting changed and into bed. I do need to get some sleep, though, and don't really have anything else to report; so it's past-time to pack this computer up and get started on my nap time.

I don't have much planned for Sunday, but morning Tai Chi with Michael and a gourmet breakfast are definitely two things I don't want to miss – make that three including good morning hugs and kisses with Michael.

Oh, look at the time! I really have to go, so, until next time...

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

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Happy 1st Birthday, Gerry Bishop!

Most of you reading this, even in the not-so-distant future might be saying "Who?" to that; so I should add that Gerry is Michael's youngest cousin on the Stone side of the family. I didn't really have anything to do with Gerry's big day, other than the joint gift that Michael, Rebecca, and I sent for him; but I was also there for the birthday phone call that Michael and his family made to their cousin – or great-nephew to Jacob and Miranda. That was more for Gerry's parents, Eric and Sally; since Gerry doesn't talk yet and probably had no clue at all about who was talking to him over the phone.

While that was a fun little part of the morning, I especially loved starting out the day with Tai Chi for two by the river with Michael; and we managed to get through our forms with just minutes to spare before the rain moved into town for the day. We might have gone over to my house and exercise with Mom and Dad, but they'd picked an alternate morning exercise routine today. We don't need to add any more information to that, so if you really must; use your imagination, because I really don't want to go there. I know that Ethan and Ehlana exercised this morning too, but they started a bit later than Michael and I did; and were indoors at Grandma and Grandpa's for that.

So the good morning kisses with Michael and the Tai Chi were really good; and then the hugs, kisses, and happy tears with Miranda when we got back inside were fun too. She watches us sometimes, when she's home, when we exercise at my house; but she thought that Michael and I were especially cute this morning with just the two of us out there. The birthday phone call to the Bishops was next, while Jacob was still cooking breakfast; and then we had a fun chat while chowing down on delicious omelets and the rest of the mini breakfast feast that Jacob made for us. Michael, Rebecca, and I were on the clean-up crew, and then we had to hurry to get ready for church – though Rebecca and I still managed to have a little hair play time too while doing that before we needed to hop in the minivan and get to the church.

It's Palm Sunday, and while I won't write about the service or Sunday school message that any Magi adult reading this will know very well anyway; I also don't want to make it seem as though it isn't an important day to me either – especially since I do write more about things like birthdays and parties than I do about Sunday services. One of the reasons for that, though, is something I have mentioned before; and that's the difference for Magi Masters between faith and actually knowing God on the higher plane of awareness that we are blessed with sharing with Him.

By the way, while the idea of God being a woman is entertaining; there are a few problems with that theory – not the least of which is the not-so-little detail that if God was a woman; she wouldn't have needed Mary to bear Jesus. That's also a pretty big deal for this time of year. I certainly can't imagine an omnipotent God and mother standing by and watching a bunch of bad people torture and kill her innocent, perfect child when smiting them would be an option – or even just simply stopping them. If you find that idea strange, just imagine what the bible stories might have been like if God was a woman. Instead of a flood, there might have just been a forty days and nights of time-out. You get the idea; so I'll get back on track for this update now.

So Palm Sunday is a celebration day, and the service and Sunday school were both upbeat and energetic with lots of music and fun. It was also a long service, so Michael had to head over to the Inn as soon as we were set free from our Sunday school class. Since it was raining, I stayed and waited to go home with Mom, Dad, and the twins. That took a while by the time we'd made our way outside and Dad had brought the minivan around to collect us; and then I was on the go again while getting changed and helping Mom and Dad with making lunch for ten.

Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Leanne, Uncle Adam, and Zack were all joining us for the noon meal; and they had caught up with us by the time we had the food ready to go. We spent nearly an hour together around the dining room table; taking our time while we ate, and catching up on what we'd all been doing on Saturday. I definitely had the most fun day from those reports, but then Mom and Dad apparently didn't really do anything with their kid-free night. Some of us didn't need to guess that their report was missing a few key details that the kids and grandparents in the room didn't need to know.

My afternoon was fairly uneventful. I helped with the kitchen clean-up; did a little more visiting with my family before our guests headed home; and then split the rest of my afternoon between some play time with Ethan and Ehlana and a study session with Michael, Tim, and Rowen during Michael's afternoon break from the Inn. Michael and I both helped out at the Inn for the buffets; though I only stayed until shortly after the first round of food for the last buffet went out to the dining room and then I headed home again to get an early start on my usual school night work and lessons.

Mom did my lesson first; I helped her with getting Ethan and Ehlana off to bed for the night; and was then in my bed by nine-thirty. I've worked for the past two hours on my language studies, archive assignment, and some family business work; but cut back a bit so I can get a decent sleep tonight. I don't have anything particularly interesting to write about from the work and study side of my nightly computing; but the college teens email updates were fun.

Jake and Stephanie aren't the only teens with Easter weekend, off-campus plans; and while they're also going to need to work too; I'm sure that all of my favorite college teen couples are going to have some fun too. Keep those precedences coming, guys – I'm going to appreciate them in a few years!

Let's keep the week ahead look short so I can wrap this up. Dad will be heading out for his four-day week in the city in the morning; we have the new Interior Design Shoppe opening tomorrow too; and tax day on Tuesday will be a big deal for anyone who has been procrastinating – or holding off on paying extra taxes until the last minute. We don't have any family coming for the Easter weekend this year, but Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace will be away in Granite Park; and Uncle Nick, Aunt Deborah, and Leah will be spending the weekend with Aunt Deborah's family.

That'll make for a quieter family weekend here; though Michael and I will be juggling activities with both of our families, so we'll be busy enough all weekend with dinners, church services, and hopefully some play time here and there. It should be another fun week, though, with lots of Easter-themed fun at school to lead into the long weekend.

My week is going to start early with seeing Dad off to the city, so I guess that's it; and, until next time...

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

Monday, April 14, 2014

I know it's Monday and we're back to work or school today; but it's also the middle of April now; and near-freezing temperatures just seem wrong – especially after such a warm weekend.

Let's use that as the excuse for why I'm not particularly motivated to write much of an update tonight; though an early morning and late work session have helped to tire me out too. Whatever the reason; I'm going with the condensed report tonight and then it'll be time to crash and nap for a few hours.

We were up early enough to see Dad off to the city; Ethan, Ehlana, and I had a nap with Mom; Michael joined us for Tai Chi; and we went with the standard weekday breakfast after Michael headed home again. Gil's party was big news for our classmates today, but Easter was the top story around the school; and nearly everything we were doing was appropriately themed. There wasn't much else going on there today – especially since nearly everyone stayed indoors at lunchtime. Once we were set free for the day, it wasn't a challenge to get Michael and Tim interested in studying at my house because it was too cool and wet to play football outdoors anyway.

My evening was fairly standard from the time I went home with Michael for dinner and now. Dinner was awesome; Michael and I had our guitar lesson and some saxophone practice time; we had a visit with his parents and Rebecca after that; and then I was home in time to do my Magi lesson with Mom before we helped Ethan and Ehlana through the full bath and bed routine. They'd been studying and continued to do that while Mom and I were busy with my lesson; so it was ten-thirty by the time I got up to my room for the night.

Doing my bedtime studies and family business work finished couldn't be done in an hour and a half, so It's been three hours since I got started with my language studies; and I only finished up the family business project I'd needed to do a final approval on about ten minutes ago. I only did the basic nightly computer checks, and that was again due to lack of motivation; but there isn't anything world-shaking to report anyway. There was some fun and entertainment here and there today too, but I'm too tired to think much about that – or anything else – so that's it for tonight; and I'm out of here.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Happy Tax Day, everyone!

To celebrate, Michael, Rowen, Tim, and I switched our work days and worked today instead of tomorrow – though that wasn't exactly optional for all of us. Rowen was drafted to help out at the store while here parents were busy; and it was an option for Michael because his parents were working at the Inn today to help with the extra business that comes every year on tax day when people don't want to worry about food when they're dealing with other problems.

You might be wondering about whether tax day is a big deal for our family business, and the answer to that for me, personally, is an easy 'no'. I don't handle that part of our investment companies, but even if I did, and while we do have a lot of business in this country; we're also very diversified around the world, and the majority of our business isn't affected by taxes here at all. That does mean that we deal with taxes in countries all over the world all the time, though; but Mom keeps up with all of that for us.

Unless you're reading this in some far-distant future when someone has actually gotten around to making taxation simple and easy, I don't need to go into a diatribe about how idiotic taxation is in our country – or most others – so I won't. Okay, maybe I will for a moment; but only to suggest that those billions of hours of time wasted on everything to do with taxes could be put to way more productive uses. So why don't we make it easy? My guess is that most people would freak out at the numbers if we had just one tax – something like a consumption tax – and nothing else.

Don't believe me? Do the math. Last year, for instance; GDP was around seventeen trillion dollars and total federal, state, and local government spending was about six trillion dollars. Without getting all messy about the numbers, or issues that are really stupid – like government employees paying taxes when their entire income is derived from taxes in the first place – let's just call that government expense a third of all GDP. How would you like to have a thirty-three percent tax on everything you buy?

I'd better stop there before I do go on a mini-rant and move along.

It was a bit warmer today, but it's supposed to be much nicer tomorrow; so there's something else that's good about switching our work days up this week. That meant that I needed to work harder tonight than I do on Wednesdays because we also had band practice after school; but that's okay – and I'm still going to be sleeping before midnight anyway. Okay, I did need to cheat a bit to make that happen; but then Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana took advantage of my time-phase to do extra work or studying too – and I made up even more time than usual because Mom let that time-phase practice be my Magi lesson tonight.

Yes, it is very tiring keeping an entire room with four people in a time-phase; but it's also really cool too.

Other than that news, I really don't have that much to report tonight that's particularly newsworthy. The cold weather kept us indoors for Tai Chi; with Dad in the city, we just went with a cereal and juice or coffee breakfast; and it was a fairly quiet day around school. Playing Easter-themed songs at band practice was fun, but our after-school study session was as short as we could make it so that Rowen and Michael could help their parents as soon as possible. Dinner was quick and easy, and so was the clean-up; and I've already covered the only highlight from our work and study evening in the office.

We did a bedtime chat with Dad while getting Ethan and Ehlana ready for bed; Mom's now winding down in the Jacuzzi; and I've been tucked in with Mandy since about ten minutes after getting up here to my room. My nightly computing didn't take long tonight, and I don't have anything worth mentioning from any of that; so I guess that's all I have for you tonight. That's a good thing too, since I'm pretty much exhausted now and ready to get some sleep. Until next time...

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

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Happy 19th Birthday, Dillon!

I hope he's having a good day, but we only managed to exchange a text message with him this morning, and while I sent him an email tonight; he hasn't answered it yet. He's probably just busy with his studies unless Violet managed to find something better for him to do instead.

Depending on what Dillon was doing with his classes and assignments, it's possible that we had more fun here at home than he did for his birthday. It was cool outside this morning, but the need to exercise by the river again just had us bundling up a bit so we could do that. Hot chocolate or coffee with breakfast helped warm us up again; though good morning and goodbye kisses with Michael before and after Tai Chi had me feeling fairly warm anyway. Though the twins were having a 'home' day, Ehlana and I still played dress up and did our hair this morning before I left to meet up with Rowen and walk to school, so I was in a really good mood by then; and Michael appreciated the results of our efforts when he saw me again.

Easter was again the big news of the day around the school and town, but everyone in our class is getting regular reminders about our upcoming trip to Washington too; and we're all getting more and more excited about our impending capitol adventure that will be starting a week from Sunday. There's some teen stress that goes with that for some of our friends; though that's almost entirely boyfriend-girlfriend problems, with a dash here and there of travel worries and some social anxiety.

Let's take those one at a time. I don't know what it is about trips, or maybe it's just spring fever; but in a small group of teens, you really notice it when six of them are having relationship problems. The couples that are having trouble are Vanessa and Allen, Nora and Brock, and Denise and Kris. In the first two cases, Vanessa and Nora are not happy with their boyfriends for various reasons, while Kris seems to be the one looking for a way out of his relationship with Denise – one of the longest in our collective and short dating history. All of that seems strange and sad to me when spending the week in Washington with Michael is one of the things I'm looking forward to the most; but what I'm picking up through my empathy is telling me that at least some of my classmates want to be single and free for the trip – and probably so that they can play the field this summer too.

Yeah, I know it's a small field; but then there are more teens around here during the holidays, and Jenny isn't the only teen with an interest in dating teens from outside of Witch Falls. I'll leave the dating game problems there and move along to the travel and social problems.

Fear of flying for a few of my friends includes dealing with all of the security at airports; and even my parents' brush with air travel disaster on the way home from their honeymoon is something that has come up recently. I'm not afraid of any of that, but I can relate; and have done what I can to help those classmates. Don't get me started on airport security. I really hope that by the time you're reading this in the future that people have come to their senses and stop being so ridiculously intrusive into everyone's lives.

Finally, the social stresses range from separation anxiety from family and friends – like when Gil will be on the trip; but not with Alicia – to worries about lack of spending money compared to friends. I'll help wherever I can with both of those problems; though the money thing can get a bit tricky, so I might need to recruit some help to make that work without risk of making someone uncomfortable. I just hope that we can all have a great trip and adventure together; though helping everyone won't be an option no matter how much I'd like to do that.

All of that has been as important to some of us as the actual trip updates and preparation have been. The most important information that Mr. Ayres talked about with us today was probably the suggestions and list he had to help us pack for our trip – particularly since we each have a limit of one carry-on and one checked bag; which will be particularly important on the return trip if we take too much with us. I'll need to be as careful with that as any of the other girls; since I won't be able to use my Magi gifts to pack, sneak extra luggage onto the plane, or pop home with a load of extra stuff using a time-phase – no matter how much fun it might be to try one or all of those options! ;^)

Moving along, there isn't much else to report from our time at school; and our study session didn't take long because we really didn't have that much to do tonight when our last day before the Easter holiday is not going to be very productive tomorrow. The fun kicked up a few notches when we picked up our bikes, the trailer, and Ethan and Ehlana and headed out for a bike ride. As usual, we did a construction site tour before going to the park; and then it was time for our favorite boys to play some football at the park. Rowen, Ehlana, and I watched them for a while and talked to the other girls and guys watching the action on the field; but then we went over to the playground once Ethan had a chance to play with Michael and Tim a couple of times. For the record with that, Ethan still gets carried for most of those football plays; but Michael now gets him to finish off the plays with running whenever he can while 'blocking' for his little buddy.

We've had a sunny afternoon with temperatures in the sixties; and that helped to make all of our park time a lot of fun. When it was time to take Ethan and Ehlana and go home for dinner; we brought Michael with us and kept him for the evening while Rowen and Tim moved on to their own plans for the evening. Life should slow down a bit for Rowen now that her parents can take a short break between tax day and the upcoming work on the lab computer systems; but Tim's parents may be a bit busier in the near future as we get into all of the farm work that happens in the spring – and possibly some personal vehicle sales thanks to tax refunds.

Our evening at home included a pasta and salad dinner; a group Magi lesson; some play time for Michael and me with the twins while Mom did some work in the office; and a full bath and bedtime routine for Ethan and Ehlana before they were tucked into bed for the night. Michael and I took care of the bath, snack, story, and getting them tucked in for the night; and then we had nearly an hour of quality alone time available to us before he needed to head home. I won't weird out any of the parents reading this in the future; but we did take advantage of the opportunity, and I'm a very happy camper tonight.

That left me with the choice between doing less work and studying or stay up late; so I've compromised and worked until a quarter to one before moving on to a short version of my nightly computer checks and this update. I was shooting for lights-out by one, and missed that; but there were some extra email floating around because of the holiday weekend, and it took a bit longer to get through them. There's certainly a lot going on around the family that we won't be involved with at all here, and though I'd like to spend some time with my cousins; I'm glad that they're going to all have as much fun as I expect we will during the holiday.

I'm not going to get as much sleep tonight to get ready for all of that fun as I'd expected, so I'd better wrap this up and get what rest I can before it'll be time to come back to life and get going again. Until next time...

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

Thursday, April 17, 2014

The long weekend is here, and as I write this; I have to start by reporting that it hasn't started out feeling like a holiday so far tonight. In fact, other than having Dad home from his week in the city a day early, and no game night; it's been an unusually quiet night around our house.

Quiet hasn't been all bad, since I'm going to be sleeping tonight far earlier than I normally am on the first night of a holiday weekend, and I got to spend more time with Mom, Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana; but I missed the crazy, non-stop action that comes with a house full of cousins and play time with my friends. Before I get to that part of the update; let's cover the news from around school.

The Easter bunny was hopping around our school sometime last night, and though nobody saw him – or her – there was evidence left behind to prove he was there. Treats were left on the desks of all of the kids in the K-3 grades; bunny footprints were all over the place around the school; and while the older kids and teens didn't have individual gifts on their desks, there was a basket left on teachers' desks with enough treats to be shared by everyone in the class. I had the most fun watching the younger kids run around and follow those footprints whenever they had time to do that; and some of the teens were playing around too by re-locating footprints both inside and outdoors. That was all fun, but I really hope our janitor and teachers had some help with the clean-up – especially for the footprints that ended up on walls, ceilings, and windows.

My after-school entertainment was with Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana because Michael needed to be at the Inn and Rowen was helping out at the computer store; so Tim went to play football with some of the guys and I was on my own. It was cooler today, so Ethan, Ehlana, and I weren't all that interested in playing at the park or biking; but we still had a little outing with Mom – to visit Aunt Leanne at the showcase apartment that she and Claire had opened to the public for the first time today in the new apartment building.

Visiting with Aunt Leanne was fun, and we liked getting to see the inside of the apartment building for the first time; though checking out the new apartment mostly reminded me why I love living in a house with a big yard so much compared to the years Mom and I spent cooped up in apartments for some of the places where we were hiding before moving here. I'm not the only person in town who feels that way, but Aunt Leanne is getting lots of interest too – especially from seniors and young, working couples that are looking for low-maintenance living space – and the construction workers looking to get out of the trailers that some of them have been living in since they were brought in and set up. Some of those workers are now considering moving their families here too; though that's a comparatively small group. Many of the guys need to get back to 'civilization' as often as possible to compensate for the extreme boredom of small town life.

That seems funny to me, since I'm rarely bored, but even on a quiet night like we've had tonight; I'm always very happy – and wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

We spent nearly an hour visiting with Aunt Leanne and exploring the apartment building, and then we went home to have an easy-dinner for three. While we weren't having family home this weekend, we also didn't do a dinner and a movie night or anything either since half of our usual group was away for the weekend. Getting to have some play time after dinner with just Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana was nice, and then watching a movie with the five of us after Dad got home and we unloaded his truck was great too. The reason I'm in my bed so early is because we all came up to our rooms after the movie; and my only stops were in Ethan and Ehlana's rooms to help with getting them ready for bed and tucked in for the night.

Let's not discuss why Mom and Dad wanted to go to bed early. Yes, they have both had a long, busy day; but I can assure you that they aren't sleeping right now.

I've been cuddling with Mandy and mostly playing on my computer; though I had a bit of family business work pop up via email that needed to be taken care of too. Michael's home from the Inn, and we had a little messaging chat for a while; but he was tired and called it a night about twenty minutes ago. We have the Good Friday service at church in the morning, so I should wrap this up and get some rest too. Until next time...

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

Friday, April 18, 2014

Happy 47th Birthday, Jacob!

It's Good Friday, so celebrating a birthday definitely felt strange today. We didn't exactly throw a huge party, though, and while it is important to remember Christ's sacrifice for us; I like to think of Good Friday in the same way we think about Memorial Day around here – with remembrance and then celebrating the life that we've been given through Jesus. If that seems strange or even wrong to you, try remembering that there is no pain, suffering, or sorrow in heaven; and Jesus is there with his Father – surrounded by joy and love.

My morning started out with Tai Chi for six, and it was probably a combination of the occasion and being indoors that made that little exercise break a bit on the quiet and somber side. I needed to hurry after that and get ready for church while Michael went home so that I could meet up with him there for his father's birthday breakfast. Jacob had the day off from any cooking; so Miranda and Rebecca cooked while Michael and I did the clean-up. That blast of fun was another first as Michael's girlfriend, so it may have even been more special for me than it was for Jacob; since he wasn't making a big deal out of his special day.

By the way, he doesn't care if everyone knows how old he is; but then that's probably easy when you're easily the most handsome forty-something man around here – and I'd argue that'd be the case nearly anywhere. Sorry, Dad, but the good news is that by the time you're a forty-something man; Jacob will have moved on to be the best-looking fifty-something guy around, so you won't be competing with him.

We didn't have all that long to eat, do gifts, and clean up before we needed to head over to the church; so that scene was both entertaining and rushed. Though it was very cool out still, we walked to church; and were early enough that we spent some time quietly welcoming some of our family members and friends while making our way into the sanctuary for the service. The Good Friday message doesn't exactly get 'spiced up' or changed like services are on pretty much any other Sunday; so there isn't any point in writing much about the message that anyone reading this in the future would know as well as I do. The sermon and music were appropriately solemn to the occasion; and we left the sanctuary in near-silence that was nearly the opposite of all other church gatherings. I walked home with Michael and our combined families; but we split up to go to our own homes to get changed and have lunch.

The temperature was warming up by then, so after having a quick sandwich and some veggies on the side; I grabbed my bike and went to meet up with Michael, Rowen, and Tim to hang out with them for a few hours. We went for a ride around town first before going on to the park; and then we spent some time attempting to ride some of the less-messy bike trails. They are starting to dry out; but it's still more work than fun to ride anywhere except on the main, groomed path. Some guys have started to clear the branches and winter debris off of the trails, though, and will be working on fixing trails and jumps as usual; so I'm sure we'll be out there and riding more often in the coming weeks.

That might even draw Tim's attention away from football for a while now and then!

Then again, we didn't exactly escape the day football-free. Michael and Tim played with some of the other guys for a while after our trail ride; and had Ethan join them for his football cameo when he came over to the park with Mom, Dad, Aunt Leanne, Uncle Adam, Ehlana, and Zack. We had some park play time too, and then it was time for all of us to move on to our respective dinner plans. For Mom, Dad, the twins, and me; that was going over to Michael's house for Jacob's birthday dinner. The Bassett clan was there too; so I was put to work keeping up with all of the younger kids. Michael, Rebecca, Erica Bassett, and Caleb Palmer helped out with that some of the time too; and we had fun while the adults – except for Jacob – took care of the work involved in getting a pot-luck dinner on the tables.

Jacob had more gifts to open during dinner; he was mildly roasted by his friends and family; and Miranda had fun with forty-seven candles distributed liberally around two cakes that made it all but impossible for him to blow out all of the candles. He recruited his younger nieces, nephew, and Ethan and Ehlana to help him with that, though; and they eventually managed to put out the little fires without setting off any smoke detectors. I only felt a little guilty about getting out of the clean-up; but another round of fun at the park – even with a bunch of young kids – was a lot of fun. Erica and Caleb are two and three years older than Michael and me, so we don't spend much time with them outside of Bassett family events, but I really like both of them a lot; and we get along really well.

I should have said that I don't spend much time with them, because Caleb is on the football team, and does the weight training with Michael and the other guys; so Michael does spend time with him every school day morning before classes. Erica is like most teens of store owners in town, and she works a lot at the grocery store; but she's also busy playing school sports with Carolyn Landry and she's one of our cheerleaders too so she's busy all of the time anyway – even if the gap between Grades Eight and Ten weren't so huge anyway. They're both great with kids, and Erica really has a particularly close relationship with Jessica and Sophia. Next to Naomi and Aiden, Sophia is definitely Ethan and Ehlana's best friend; and the three of them had a blast running around together – and playing with the rest of us. Some of the parents joined us for the tail end of our playground time once the work at Michael's house was finished; and then it was time to split up again and head for our own homes for the night.

That didn't mean to our own homes, because a last-minute suggestion turned into a minor sleepover event at our house. I suggested having Michael and Rebecca stay with us to give Jacob and Miranda a kid-free night; Ehlana invited Sophia shortly after that; and Jessica and Ryan were added in when they didn't want to be left out. That was a bonus for their parents too; but let's not discuss what might be going on at two houses just down the street from us right about now.

Packing overnight bags didn't take very long with a little help for Jessica, Ryan, and Sophia; and then it was time for some movie action in the lounge once we'd set up our guests in bedrooms on the second or third floor. Ryan wasn't exactly thrilled that the younger girls got to pick the movie, but Ethan quietly solved that problem by giving Ryan his iPad to play games on – and they sat in the window alcove so that they could do that with minimal intrusion on the movie watchers. As with probably a lot of young kids, Sophia's favorite movie right now is 'Frozen'; so we watched that again. I love the music and story; so it really doesn't matter to me that I have it memorized and can replay it anytime I want – it's still fun to watch movie repeats with my family and friends.

Bonus cuddle time with Michael is nice too! ;^)

Mom and Dad came for the three toddlers and Ryan when the movie was over; but Jessica was allowed to stay up with us for a while. We did a bit of music time with my keyboard and guitar; listened to some music videos; and mostly had a little girl chat time that Michael pretended not to listen in on if it got too weird for him. Watching a second movie was considered, but two of us didn't want to stay up too late with a busy weekend ahead of us; and Rebecca and Jessica had some fun teasing Michael and me about needing some alone time before he had to go to his room for the night.

They gave us that time anyway, and we spent nearly an hour together in the lounge, but with a house full of cousins and siblings; we kept our little make-out section on the low end of the hot scale. That was still more alone time than we'd expected to have, though; so we were both very happy when we shared our goodnight hugs and kisses and Michael headed downstairs to the bedroom below the lounge. Yes, he could have used the bedroom across the hall instead; but we're probably better off keeping it this way for at least a while longer.

I got ready for bed right away after that, and climbed into bed with Mandy and my computer. For some reason, it's taken me a while to get tired out enough to sleep, but I had some family business work that I could do; so there was an easy outlet for the unused energy. It is time for me to call it a night, since we'll be up early for Tai Chi by the river – and then have a gang to feed and take care of; so I guess that's all I have for now. Until next time...

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

Saturday, April 19, 2014

This has been one of those really good days; starting with being back outdoors again for Tai Chi by the river.

That was the only quiet we had for quite a while from that point on because Mom, Dad, Michael, Rebecca, and I were busy with making breakfast; getting kids ready for the day; juggling bathroom time; getting ourselves ready; eating; and then cleaning up. There was also another little surprise job – hiding a lot of plastic Easter eggs all over the yard for the hunt that Mom and Dad had planned for Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden. They'd changed the plan slightly last night to accommodate our extra three younger guests; using up some of the Easter treats that Dad had picked up for the twins and me while he was in the city to make sure there was enough loot for seven kids instead of four. Okay, technically it was five kids, but Zack is a bit young to appreciate the game; and couldn't eat any of the actual treats – though Mom had some treats she could give him in exchange for his eggs.

Michael and I helped with the egg hiding; and then we were in charge of Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden while Rebecca helped her three cousins. We had the non-working parents come over to hang out with Mom and Dad while their kids were playing; and they took pictures and videos to share with their working spouses and friends. It only took the kids a half-hour or so to round up the eggs and get their treats – which included a few prizes for finding certain eggs; and then another half-hour to wind them up before sending them on their way. Ehlana went shopping with Naomi and her father; Aiden stayed with Ethan; and Sylvia Bassett took her kids home with her with some help from Rebecca.

It was time for Michael to head out then too, but he was delayed a bit with a few goodbye hugs and kisses when we conveniently found ourselves alone on the second floor and took advantage of the opportunity. After he left, it was time for me to do some yard work with Dad; and that kept us busy for the rest of the morning while Mom and Alicia worked indoors and took care of Ethan and Aiden. We had extra guests over for lunch too because Mom had set up a trail ride for the afternoon; and they needed some baby and toddler support so that Aunt Leanne and Uncle Adam could come with us. Grandma and Grandpa came over early enough so that he could run the grill while Dad and I were working around the yard and Grandma could help Mom with making up some cold salads for sides to go with the burgers and hotdogs.

We also had Ehlana, Naomi, and Philip back again, and they stayed for lunch; but then Naomi's father kept the two girls for the afternoon so that Grandma and Grandpa would only have Ethan, Aiden, and Zack with them while we were at the ranch. The lunch break was fun, and thanks to the beautiful weather; I sat on the dock with my brother, sister, and their friends while we ate and talked about everything from the morning egg hunt to our collective plans for the rest of the weekend.

Rowen and Tim came over shortly after one o'clock, and while their inclusion for the trail ride had been a surprise for all of us; we had each found out about it earlier in the morning. Most of the post-meal clean-up was done by then, so we loaded up into the minivan and truck; collected Michael from the Inn as we headed west toward the ranch; and then made the quick drive out there. I was really excited to finally get out on the horses and trails again; and we really had a perfect day for riding. Mom had only booked a one-hour ride so that none of us would end up too saddle sore to enjoy the rest of the weekend; but we were still there for nearly two hours including some pre-ride wandering around the stables and riding arena and a post-ride visit while Mom and Aunt Leanne booked some rides for the rest of the spring and summer.

As with a lot of things we now do together; I really love riding with Michael – and he thinks that his girlfriend looks hot riding a horse. That still seems strange to me sometimes; but I'm learning to enjoy having Michael think of me that way.

He needed to get back to the Inn after our ride, but went home to grab a shower and change first to get rid of the trail dust and horse smell – a requirement Miranda has had for her kids pretty much since the first riding lesson Rebecca went on with Jenny, Rowen, and me during my first summer here. Rowen and Tim moved on once we got back too; though they stayed for the snacks and drinks before leaving. We still had some time before dinner; so I took Ethan and Aiden for a canoe ride that included a stop at the park for some playground fun. While we were doing that, Mom, Grandma, and Aunt Leanne had run out to the Emporium and Olde Bakery to re-stock the Easter treats Mom had needed to use up during the egg hunt; and they'd collected Ehlana from the Seagers while they were out. They were home ahead of us, and while Naomi was busy; we kept Aiden until his parents closed the bakery for the night at six o'clock.

Dinner was leftover salads, grilled chicken, and a rice casserole that Grandma had thrown together while we were at the ranch; and Ethan, Ehlana, and I sat on the dock again to eat – and give the adults a kid break for a while. I was on the clean-up crew while the twins were taken to the park again; but Dad, Uncle Adam, and I caught up with everyone else once we were finished the work for the night. I did some playground time with the twins and some other kids, but took my bike too; and went for a ride on some of the trails when the rest of my family either opted to head home or go for a walk around town.

There were other kids and teens biking on the trails too, but Rowen and Tim weren't there; and I only stayed for about forty-five minutes before heading home again.

Mom, Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana were on their own by the time they got home too; and we had some front porch time with drinks before they headed inside and I wandered over to the Inn to meet up with Michael. He still had some things to do, so I pitched in to help around the kitchen too until he and Rebecca were set free for the night. She was going to hang out with some friends for a while; and Michael and I decided to go for a walk around the park.

It was still really nice out then, and we had fun with a walk along the night-shrouded trails at the park. We have the sunrise service at church in the morning, and needed to be home early; but we still decided to end our night with some cuddle time on one of the benches by the river behind my house. That perfect little moment reminded me a lot of some special moments we shared by the river last summer; and I have a really good feeling tonight that this summer is going to be even better!

By the time we did finally say goodnight and Michael walked along the river back to his house; Ethan and Ehlana were already in bed. I checked in with Mom and Dad in the office on my way upstairs; did hugs and kisses with my brother and sister; and then hopped into my Jacuzzi to get cleaned up. I'm still soaking in the tub as I write this, but it's time for me to get out; do my hair; and get some sleep. We won't have time for Tai Chi in the morning; but we'll still need to be up extra-early – especially since the Easter Bunny is coming tonight! ;^)

I probably should have offered to help Mom and Dad with that, but I know they've gone to bed now too; so they likely had most of it ready before I got home tonight anyway and just needed to put the baskets out on the kitchen table.

It's going to be a wild, crazy-busy day – especially for those of us, like Michael and me, who will be juggling multiple-family events and meals along with two church services and the Easter Sunday pancake breakfast. Thinking about that is making me tired, and I don't have anything else to add anyway; so, until next time...

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

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Happy Easter, everyone!

Congratulations to Heather, Adam, and Brandon Green – it's a boy! Yes, that's right, the Easter Bunny brought the Green family a baby. Julian Green was born this morning – sometime while nearly everyone else except the Green family was enjoying the pancake breakfast at the church.

Julian may eventually decide that he loves being an Easter baby. Unlike Christmas babies, his birthday won't actually be on Easter very often. Easter will only be on April 20th three times between now and the end of the century – 2025, 2087, and 2098. I wonder if he'll joke about only having had three birthdays so far in 2098; the way that leap-year babies joke about only having one birthday every four years.

While I'm sure that Heather is very happy with her little Easter bundle of joy, it wasn't a particularly fun morning for her after going into labor in the wee hours of the night. With his nurse and back-up doctor out of town for the weekend; Uncle Adam had his hands full too; though he had some support from Aunt Leanne and members of the Green family. I should mention that Julian arrived about two weeks early; and that's one of the reason why nobody was really even thinking about possible baby deliveries this weekend. He's perfectly healthy, if a bit small; though that is why Uncle Adam is keeping Heather and her new baby at the clinic overnight so that he can keep an eye on them and make sure that Julian is doing okay before sending him home.

That's partly for appearances, since he is able to check out all babies with a little Magi help; but the Greens don't know that so he's mostly playing it by the book for their benefit.

While the new baby in town became the big story at church, there is one other birthday I should mention; since it's for one of my classmates.

Happy 14th Birthday, Brock!

He wasn't an Easter baby, but his birthday falls in the range of dates for Easter; and now he'll have those same three future Easters to look forward to celebrating his birthday on along with Julian. That's not very exciting for him this year, and he isn't having a party with his friends because everyone is busy with family Easter plans instead. That kind of thing isn't easy for a teen, but some of us tried to help him out with that with the birthday gifts we gave him this morning while we were all at church. Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I did a joint gift; and some of our friends had presents with them too; though we couldn't even do a little party at church because we were so busy with the two services and the breakfast in between them.

With all of that covered, I guess it's time to back up and start my own news of the day from when Ethan and Ehlana gave me my early morning wake-up call.

Those hugs and kisses were a great way to start the day; and rushing downstairs to find out what the Easter Bunny brought for us was an entertaining beginning to a really busy hour or so as we munched on treats and checked out the rest of our loot before going to wake up Mom and Dad and then needing to collectively get ready for church. Mom, Ehlana, and I needed to cheat a bit to have time to get our hair done properly and put on our Easter dresses and accessories. That extra Magi effort was worth it because we really wowed all of our favorite boys – though Mom and I appreciated that a bit more than Ehlana did.

We had a beautiful morning, and I wish that we'd had time for Tai Chi by the river too; but there was barely enough time to make the walk to church as it was without trying to add our exercise routine to the mix. Aunt Leanne had called us to let us know that she wouldn't be at church, and though we would have taken Zack with us for the morning; she'd already had him picked up by Grandma and Grandpa – and they were going to share him with Grandma and Grandpa Carrington for most of the day. Since Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne were hosting our family Easter dinner this year, they also needed help around their house, but Mom and Dad didn't start doing that until after breakfast at the Inn and then after the second service.

The teen-led sunrise service is one of my favorites of the year; and I really loved all of the music and skits that they used to tell the Easter story to a nearly-full house in the sanctuary. I don't know exactly what Michael and I will do next year when we're part of the teen group; but I'm sure that we're going to have a lot of fun finding out what it's like to be on that side of the fun and entertainment. We didn't need to wait a year to find out about that for the teen side of the pancake breakfast work; though Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I had breakfast with our families first before offering to join the work crew in the kitchen and washing or drying dishes through until just before the second service started at eleven.

Michael and I have lots of kitchen experience from helping out at the Inn, but the kitchen at the church was not nearly as organized; and there was quite a bit of goofing around going on too. Tim was quite happy to help out with that part of the job, and while he and the other guys involved had fun and kept the rest of us entertained; they also didn't get too far out of control. That might have had something to do with the need not to do anything that might mess with the girls around them who might get more than a bit irate if anything happened to best dresses, hair, or make-up; but that also means that the boys are making some slow progress too. Those thoughts wouldn't have even crossed their minds in the not so distant past.

Maybe there's hope for them after all! ;^)

While I was doing that work, Mom and Dad had popped over to Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne's house to do some dinner prep work that included getting the turkey into the oven to start cooking. They had help both at the house, and with the twins. Ethan and Ehlana spent that time with Aiden, Naomi, and their families; and then they were returned to Mom and Dad in time for the second service. The teens were back to help out with that service too; though Pastor John and the adult praise team led that second hour and change of Easter celebration. After spending more than five hours at the church, Michael and I weren't the only people ready to head home when we were set free at about a quarter after twelve. We took Ethan and Ehlana with us and headed home ahead of everyone else in our families. Michael stopped in at his house to get changed, and Ethan, Ehlana, and I were changed and dressed to play by the time he met up with us again at about the same time that Mom and Dad were passing through on their way to Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne's house.

Since they were going to be busy for a while, we grabbed a snack lunch and then got our bikes and the trailer and went for a ride around town that ended at the park. Michael and I had a bit less than two hours to play with Ethan and Ehlana before we needed to be at the Bassett's house for their family's Easter dinner; and we ended up playing with Jessica, Ryan, and Sophia when they came over to the park too – sent there to get out from under foot while the parents were busy with the work in the kitchen. Rowen and Tim stopped in for a while too, but they were juggling family dinners too; and had even less time than we did before needing to be at his aunt and uncle's house for their first big meal.

Michael and I needed to take Ethan and Ehlana home before going on to his aunt and uncle's house, but we walked our bikes and the trailer so that his cousins could walk as far as their house with us. We dropped my bike and the trailer off at my house; took the twins on to Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne's house after finding out that Mom and Dad were still there; and then we back-tracked to the Bassett's home.

I'm not going to cover every detail of the next five hours or so because there was just so much going on that would take all night – or at least more time-phase energy than I have left in me tonight. The food for both dinners was amazing; we had a blast with our families; ate way too much; and did two more rounds of kitchen cleaning after each meal. The second dinner was even later than planned because Uncle Adam wasn't able to get away from the clinic until nearly six o'clock; and then he only did that long enough to eat with us while leaving Heather and Julian with their family at the clinic to watch them while he was away. He's going to have some overnight relief from Uncle Mark later; but it's been a very long day for Uncle Adam and he's been running on just the few hours of sleep he was able to get before the late night call came in from Adam Green.

That's why it was after eight by the time the work was done in the kitchen at their house and Mom and Dad were ready to take Ethan, Ehlana, and me home for the night. Michael and I would have liked to spend some more time together, but we each had things to do tonight – including getting ready for school in the morning. After saying goodnight to Michael on the front porch, I started out my evening fun with a Magi lesson with Mom while Dad got to work and the twins did some college class studying. Mom and I followed that up with the bedtime routine with the twins, and after getting them tucked into bed for the night; I came up to my room and got started on my usual school night studies and work. I got as much done as I could by eleven-thirty; putting that time limit on because I'm going to need to get a bit of extra sleep this week to be ready for our week in Washington D.C.. I followed up that studying and work with my usual bedtime computer checks; but there weren't very many email in yet with college teen or family Easter reports, so there isn't any news to report from any of that tonight.

If I wrap this up now, I should be sleeping by midnight as planned; so that's it for now, and I'm out of here. Until next time...

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

Monday, April 21, 2014

We've had a rainy day, but the wet didn't roll into town until late morning and left by early evening, so other than keeping us indoors at lunch and after school; it didn't really affect much of that action or fun today.

It was certainly nice enough out for Tai Chi by the river this morning – and good morning hugs and kisses too! The rest of my pre-school routine was fairly normal and uneventful, but then we had a fairly busy day at school. That included a couple of quizzes and an assignment that needed to be handed in. There was more preparation for our trip next week too; and some lessons meant to help us with some of the activities we'll be doing there and sites we'll visit. The teen drama I mentioned last week continues too; and at least one of those couples is now in imminent danger of breaking up. I'll put the chances of their working things out at zero; so it's really just a matter of which day they pick to call it quits.

While the rain kept us indoors at lunchtime, we kept ourselves entertained with some play time in the gym after eating in the cafeteria. There wasn't any outdoor fun after school either, but that was more than offset by doing our homework at Michael's house; having Miranda and Jacob invite all four of us for dinner; and adding in some video gaming and music time before and after dinner. That kept me busy and entertained through until I needed to get home for our family business and future plans meeting.

Before I get started on that, Uncle Adam advised us that Heather and Julian Green went home late this afternoon; and both mother and son are doing just fine. Uncle Adam got a bit of sleep while Uncle Mark took a turn at the clinic, but he's still really tired; and when Aunt Leanne took him home to put him to bed tonight; I'll take a wild guess that sleep was going to be their favorite bedroom activity that starts with the letter 'S' – at least for tonight.

Okay, too much information there... let's move along.

The big news around town today was also one of the first things we discussed at our meeting – the remodel and expansion of the church that began today. It's going to take about two years to complete the entire project because of the need to work around the regular activities at the church as well as seasonal issues, but when they've finished everything, the sanctuary will be more than half again bigger than it is now; and the rest of the church will be bigger and modernized – everything from the offices and kitchen to the reception hall and Sunday school rooms. As I've mentioned before, we're not really directly involved in that – other than with the contributions of money; and the volunteer time that nearly everyone in the congregation will put in here and there for jobs the professionals aren't needed for.

While I'm on the non-family business action around here, we also talked about the new Witch Falls Museum. It'll be opening for the Memorial Day weekend; and is in the building closest to the falls and the statue of the Witch. Aunt Leanne told us that the building remodel is pretty much done now; so they have lots of time to get the Museum and gift shop set up; and there are tentative plans for a wine and cheese open house for the Monday before the grand opening on the Friday of the long weekend. There are going to be new play options out at Quarry Lake in time for the holiday too, and the word on the street is that there is a new, huge playground being installed and some new water slides have been added for the lake. I think the museum is a great idea for tourism; and I can hardly wait until we get to go out to Quarry Lake for our first play day of the year!

Moving on to the actual family business and future plans news; the top story for actual work today was Mom's. She and Owen started receiving their first deliveries for the computer systems they'll be installing at the lab. The real work for that will start after Memorial Day, but there's still a lot of prep work to do between now and then; so Mom and Owen – and sometimes Ethan and Ehlana – will be at the lab getting the equipment ready for eventual installation. Mom's working on the software she's writing for the lab too; so she is going to be a very busy woman for the next five or six months.

The medical center building is running a bit behind schedule because of the rain days slowing the work down; but it isn't a big problem yet; and some overtime when we hit some stretches of nicer weather can get it back on track. From the pictures I saw tonight, it doesn't look like much work has been done at the solar-wind farm; but it'll be heading toward fall before we start seeing the big wind turbine towers and solar arrays filling up the old quarry site. That project actually is still on-time; and we're especially happy to see it on-budget too.

Coming back into town again, Aunt Leanne and Claire are going to have the new apartment building nearly fully rented by the end of the month at the rate they're going; and then they'll have a lot more work to do with rentals and house sales in the rest of town. The initial sales are easy, since we're going to buy a lot of them up as investments to either fix up and turn around or use as new rentals. There'll be a lag with filling all of the older rentals, but we've planned for that; and it gives Aunt Leanne time to arrange for some remodels.

Most of the new housing being built this year will be a bit more affordable than some of the first houses were; though they'll still be geared toward business owners and professionals – like the people who will be working at the lab and medical center-professional office building. The new townhomes as they get built will be an option for lower income families; though we're working on some plans for that too. Some of those programs will come online over the next few years; but we'll also deal with some families on a case-by-case basis to make sure that none of our neighbors are left behind as we make changes around here.

We had some longer-term plans to talk about too, but I won't go into all of that tonight. That discussion ranged from projects at the lab during the first couple of years after it opens to teen development for future careers and things like re-purposing the old clinic once we move the doctors and dentists over to the new medical center. By the time we wrapped up the meeting and I took Ethan and Ehlana upstairs to get them ready for bed we were pretty much set up for the rest of the summer; Ethan, Ehlana, and I had prepared everyone else for a few things they needed to know about some upcoming events; and our mid-term plans were looking pretty good too.

I was on my own for getting the twins changed, ready for bed, and tucked in for the night. We skipped the bedtime story, and I came up to my room for the night right after that while Mom and Dad both needed to do some work in the office before calling it a night too. The meeting didn't end until nearly ten-thirty, so it was after eleven by the time I got started on my nightly studies and work. Taking it easy wasn't an option because I have no idea how much I'll be able to do next week while I'm away. That's why it's now heading toward three o'clock, and while it feels good to get a lot of studying and family business work done; I'm also seriously ready to crash and nap for a few hours.

We're supposed to have a beautiful, sunny day tomorrow, so skipping after-school studying may be an option. That could make for another late night for me when adding in studying catch-up to the evening schedule, but I'm okay with that, and if some Michael and me alone time is involved too; I'm good with that too! I really am beat, though, and don't have anything else to report tonight; so let's just call it a night. Until next time...

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

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

We're down to five more sleeps until we leave for our big trip on Sunday; and everyone in our class is getting very excited. Some of our lessons continue to be geared toward preparing us for the trip, and Uncle Nick – Mr. Ayres – is also setting us up with assignments that we'll need to complete as we do the different activities next week; so it won't be all fun and games.

Okay, it'll mostly be fun and games; but that's okay with us!

With the trip to look forward to, and a nice, warm sunny day to enjoy; we had a fair bit of fun today too. It was a bit on the chilly side for Tai Chi this morning, but it started warming up soon enough; and nearly everyone at school was outdoors for lunchtime today. That meant more football for the boys; so Rowen and I split our time between watching them play and going for a walk that included some cameo play time with Jessica Bassett and some of her friends; a visit with Emma Norton; and some skipping with a few girls in Grade One where we turned the rope while they skipped.

The nice weather was all the excuse we needed for Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I to decide that skipping our after-school study session in favor of some play time and biking was the better option; though we didn't get to that until after band practice. With Easter past us now, it was time to start working on the music the band will be playing in the Memorial Day and Fourth of July parades this year; so that was fun too even though most of us wanted to be outside instead. As for the parades, Michael, Rowen, and I already know for sure that we'll be in the Memorial Day parade because some older teens will either be doing something else in the parade or unavailable; but the group still needs to be worked out for the Fourth of July because there are so many different things for teens to do in that parade.

Tim played football while we were at band practice, but he'd gone home first and already had his bike with him; so he was able to come with us when we left the school and went with Rowen to her house to drop off her school gear and get her bike while Michael and I did the same at our houses – and collected Ethan and Ehlana to go with us for the ride and play time at the park. That was all fun, but there also wasn't anything newsworthy to report from the ride, football action, or playground time with the twins. Michael came home with Ethan, Ehlana, and me for the evening; we had an easy-dinner night that included an all-teen clean-up crew of two; and then, except for the make-up study session for two, we followed that up with the normal Tuesday night action. The group Magi lesson, play time with the twins, and some alone time for Michael and me after we tucked Ethan and Ehlana into their beds combined to make for one of those really good nights; and I only wish that we could do all of that more often than once a week.

While I'm thinking about that, Ethan really loves me, and we always have fun at bedtime; but he especially loves getting to have these little 'guy time' moments with Michael. I'm sure that my boyfriend is filling in as Ethan's older brother for the things that his big sister can't do for him. Tim isn't always happy when we spend a lot of our free time with the twins, but Michael loves playing with Ethan and Ehlana as much as I do; and he's as good with them as I'm sure Jake was with him – and Rebecca – when they were toddlers. I wouldn't dream of scaring Michael with this next thought anytime soon; but he's going to be an awesome father some day.

Don't worry, Moms and Dads – that 'some day' is not anytime soon! ;^)

The alone time with Michael was entertaining, and moderately hot; so I was a happy camper when I started in on my bedtime studies and work. That was a good thing, because my Sunday night wishes for extra sleep this week to get fully rested and charged up for our trip to Washington really isn't going to work out – especially as new work for the family business comes in every day. It's going to be another three o'clock bedtime for me again tonight – past three this time – and I'm probably going to need to do a little self-healing in the mornings if the trend continues all week. Our after-school work day tomorrow might help a bit; but we'll see how that goes.

I won't bore you with the details of quarterly reports; investment proposals; or the various business plans that range from seasonal sales to product development and marketing. Most of that work is still fun for me; but it's also very tiring to be on the go for more than twenty hours a day. Mom may not have had a life back when she first found out about the extent of her inheritance when she was twenty-one; but I don't know how she handled the entire business by herself back then while also finishing her PhD – or how she keeps up now sometimes while juggling everything else she has on the go.

Yes, she has help, but Mom still manages more than half of our family business on her own; and keeps an eye on everything that the rest of us do; plus she still has her cover job – though that'll be family business work too while she's building the lab systems for most of the rest of this year.

I'm pretty much ready to wrap this up now, but before I do that; it's past-time for a college teen update. Now that Easter is over; all of my favorite collegians are in full study mode to get ready for final exams and finish any remaining major term projects. The Easter holiday updates from Violet, Stephanie, and Christina were all lacking enough information to account for three days of activities; so I'll take a wild guess that means they all had a very happy holiday! They still have about three and a half weeks to go before they'll be home for the summer; but I'll take a wild guess that we'll be having more fun around here than they will be – especially for those of us who will be spending one of those weeks on a major school trip. We'll also have baseball starting the week after we get home from Washington; Mother's Day; some birthdays; and, hopefully, some random fun opportunities to keep us busy the rest of the time.

My immediate idea of fun is some unconscious time and maybe some happy dreams about Michael and me for the few hours I have left before needing to be up again for Tai Chi; so that's all I have for now, and until next time...

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

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

I've had a very long day, and got a lot of work done despite wishing that I was outside, enjoying another nice day, and having fun with my friends instead. Michael, Rowen, and Tim were busy too, though Tim likely found sometime for a little football too.

Though it looked as though we might get some rain this morning, we didn't; and we had another warm, sunny afternoon. The timing for that probably seemed like a vote of approval from Mother Nature to Vanessa because that happened while she was breaking up with Allen during our lunch break. I'm sure that he didn't feel the same way about that; and I think he's even more hurt now than he was back in September when Molly broke up with him because she didn't want a boyfriend who wasn't in high school too. Knowing that Vanessa's timing was almost totally because she wanted to be single for our class trip made things worse for Allen too; and it doesn't really matter that he knew they were having problems anyway.

Vanessa left Allen behind with a broken heart, but he's kind, gentle, and unassuming; so they didn't have a major blow-up or anything. That didn't keep the news from spreading fast; and it was soon the top gossip story of the afternoon around the school. Allen isn't particularly thrilled with girls in general right now, so Rowen and I couldn't really be much help to our classmate today; but Michael lent an ear to Allen and tried his best to help him out a little. Writing very much about this may seem strange to some of you reading this in the future, but high emotion moments are particularly stressful for an empathy; and it can be really tough for Mom, Ethan, Ehlana, and I to be around people who are experiencing extreme emotions – at both the good and bad ends of the scale.

Now that the first break-up has happened, we'll see whether that starts a chain reaction with the remaining two 'troubled' relationships in our class. I suspect it will; but we'll see what happens over the next few days.

While that isn't a good news story, it's pretty much the only news I have to write about tonight. I'm sure you don't want to be bored with the details of my work night; and nothing much else happened at school today. Our after school study time at Landry's was short and only mildly entertaining, and other than stopping to have dinner; I've been working or studying from the time I got home from walking Michael to the Inn and kissing him goodnight there until now. I've stayed up too late again, but the work is getting done; and I'll be ready to take the next week off except for the usual daily business issues that come up most days.

All I want to do right now, though, is get some down time; so, until next time...

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

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Okay, I'm officially burned out again; so let's keep this short.

It's been a rainy day, so Tai Chi, and nearly everything else I did today was indoors. We went to school; Michael and I spent the evening at the Inn; and we split up our time there between studying with Rebecca, Rowen, and Tim; helping out with the dinner rush; and playing games with our families and friends. I came home after game night with Mom, Dad, and the twins; did the bedtime routine with Ethan and Ehlana; my Magi lesson with Mom; and three and a half hours of work and studying. My day stopped being fun a couple of hours ago, but the work is done now; and I can take the next nine or ten days off without feeling guilty.

I can also crash and nap for a few hours now too, so I'm out of here.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Friday, April 25, 2014

Happy 10th Birthday, Jessica!

Michael spends so much time with my brother and sister that it's only fair for me to help him when he's recruited to help out with his cousins. That's why we spent most of our free time today helping his aunt and uncle with Jessica's party. There was some work involved in that for Michael; but I mostly got to play with Jessica and her friends – and with Sophia until she went to hang out with Ehlana and Naomi after dinner.

Before I get to the party recap; let's do a quick review of the news for the rest of the day.

It was cool this morning, but sunny and beautiful outside; so Tai Chi was back out by the river again. My lack of sleep over the past few days had me using a bit of Magi power to make up for the missing down time, but that's caught up to me now too; so I'm just as tired now as I was last night. We didn't spend every minute of our school day doing final preparation for our trip, but Mr. Ayres did have a lot of things to go over with us today; and Principle Jacobs spent a little time talking with us too. Her chat was mostly her version of the 'ambassadors of your school and town' good conduct speech; though I doubt that she's seriously worried about any of us getting into serious trouble while we're away – even though she joked about that being why she's going on the trip with us.

Okay, so maybe she is worried about one of us getting into trouble; though I'm really hoping that we don't have any of that kind of trouble from the Hathornes.

We managed to get through the last school day of the week without any more break-ups in our class; but that's really just dragging out the teen drama and putting off the inevitable. I'll skip the details for all of that for now; since it's a safe bet that there will be more to write about over the next week. I will mention that Allen looked at least a bit happier today, and his closest friends are doing a good job helping him while he gets over his most recent heartbreak.

While Michael and I were busy with Jessica's party tonight; Rowen and Tim were having a play day that included our usual Friday after-school and evening entertainments. They borrowed a canoe from my house for a while too, and they stopped by for a short visit with us; but that's all we saw of them tonight. I had a computer chat with Rowen a little while ago when I first came to bed and started doing my nightly checks; so I know that they had a good night that included some alone time fun for two. I wish Michael and I could say the same, but that just didn't happen for us. I'm sure that Michael's having fun playing video games with Ryan instead.

I guess that brings us back to party time; and Jessica had a gorgeous afternoon and evening for her big day. Except for the boys in her family, it was an all-girl party; and Michael did his best to keep Ryan from annoying his big sister and her friends too much. Michael and I went over to his aunt and uncle's house shortly after dropping off our school gear at our homes; and started helping his Aunt Sylvia while Jessica got ready for her party and then waited for her friends to arrive after going home to do the same. My kid-control duties began with the arrival of Jessica's best friends, Lindsay Faulkner and Geraldine Sheldon.

We started out with a meet and greet, snacks and drinks break while waiting for all of the girls to join us, and then we played games in the back yard until dinner was ready. Sylvia had lots of family support for her work crew even though a lot of the Bassett family members were also busy with their usual Friday night store and shop operations. Grandfathers were recruited for grilling duties and grandmothers and aunts helped out in the kitchen. Michael's Uncle Bill was only able to stop in for a short visit that he timed for when the cake and ice cream was served; and he left shortly after Jessica opened her gifts.

Dinner was outdoors, and while the birthday girl sat with four of her friends and a rotating group of parents and grandparents; Michael and I mostly supervised the rest of her friends during that hour and a half blast of food and fun. Continuing kid-control duties got me out of the post-dinner clean-up; but Michael was drafted to help with the work – along with Ryan and most of the other guys who were there.

The games and play time continued after dinner and through until it was nearly dark out before we moved the party indoors and the first movie was cued up for Jessica and her friends. As I already mentioned, Sophia had gone over to my house to spend the evening and night with Ehlana and Naomi; but Michael waited until the movie started to take Ryan home with him. I stayed to help Sylvia with snacks, drinks, and some outdoor clean-up; we had our own little break after that; and then I helped with getting the girls ready for their sleepover before going home for the night once sleeping bags and pillows were set up and the second movie was started.

I'm really glad that Jessica had a best-ever-so-far birthday, and Michael and I had fun; but I was getting worn down by the time I got home. Since Ehlana had two friends over for the night, I wasn't surprised to find out that Aiden was staying with Ethan too. They were already in bed by the time I got back, but they weren't sleeping yet; so I stopped into both rooms to spend a little time with my brother, sister, and their friends. Those stops on my way up to bed included bonus bedtime stories, some girl chat and giggles, and hugs and kisses. I skipped mentioning my little visit with Mom and Dad while they were winding down with glasses of wine and a little cuddle time in the living room, but I only spent a few minutes with them because they didn't really look like they needed more kid time; and I was ready to head up to my room anyway.

Once I did get up her, changed, and into bed with my computer; it was time to do my nightly checks around the digital world. Mandy is doing the sleepover with Ehlana and her friends tonight, so I'm on my own – though I do have a couple of the stuffies that Michael has given me to cuddle with when I do get around to sleeping. I've already mentioned my chat with Rowen, and though I'll skip the details; that was fun – even if I'm also a bit jealous that she's having more boyfriend fun time than I am right now. There wasn't much going on with email tonight except for a bit of family business correspondence that I took care of before getting started on this update.

My Saturday is booked with a yard work day, and I'll need to finish packing for my trip tomorrow night; so I'd better wrap this up and get started on some down time. It feels early compared to the past few nights, so hopefully it won't take me too long to relax and drift off to sleep. With three extra toddlers here to start the morning with; I'll probably need that extra nap time! Until next time...

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

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Tai Chi by the river was extra fun today with Naomi and Aiden added to our usual group. Sophia was invited to join us, but opted for bonus nap time with Mandy instead of either trying Tai Chi too or just hanging out by the river while we exercised.

Having five toddlers to feed and get ready for the day kept Mom, Dad, and me busy right from the time I kissed Michael goodbye until Dad and I got started on our yard work day after the breakfast clean-up was done. Naomi and Aiden stayed with Ethan and Ehlana until after lunch, but Alicia took care of keeping them entertained while Mom worked indoors and Dad and I were busy. My first job of the day was also a first for the year – cutting the lawn. We had to dodge a few spits of rain here and there for a while, but that didn't last long. I followed up the lawn mowing with a whole lot of gardening. That work included weeding, planting the new flowers that Mom picked up at the garden center, and my personal un-favorite – spreading a couple of dozen bags of all-natural fertilizer.

Yeah – really, seriously gross!

Michael is probably very happy tonight that he didn't get to spend much time with me today; though I did eventually get rid of the smell – after a very long shower that included several soap cycles and lots of shampoo. My clothes – and Mom's and Dad's – went straight into the wash too; and our scruffy yard work shoes needed to be cleaned too. All of the physical activity has set me up for a different kind of tired tonight, but I still needed to finish packing for our trip to Washington; and I'm going to have a tough time sleeping tonight now that we're down to just hours before we head out for our Capitol adventure.

While we didn't have an easy-dinner tonight, Mom did make her life a bit easier by going with a crock pot entrée; so she only needed to throw together some side dishes when we were ready to eat. I helped her with that because we had first dibs on shower time; and we had everything ready to go by the time Dad rejoined us after his shower. We ate out on the back porch, and after cleaning up; Ethan and Ehlana came up to my room with me to hang out while I packed my bags. That didn't actually take long, since I was packing light and planning on buying some new clothes to wear later next week and bring back with me. The only thing I'll need to pack in the morning is my computer and a few bathroom necessities; so I am ready to go. I spent the rest of the evening with Mom, Dad, and the twins; so I'm pretty much ready to be apart from them for the next six days. We'll keep in touch online, and I'm sure that they'll manage without me around here; but I am going to miss my family a lot too.

Going to bed early is an option tonight, and while some alone time with Michael would have been nice; we will be spending a lot of the next week together; so maybe we'll even manage some alone time here and there. For now, I'll have to settle for some Michael and me dream time.

My next update will be coming to you live from Washington D.C., so, until next time...

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

Sunday, April 27, 2014

This daily journal report is coming to you live from our nation's capitol – aka Washington D.C.

Try not to laugh, but my first thought when we arrived here was that the President won't the most powerful person in the city for the next five days give or take a handful of hours. Then again, the President isn't actually in Washington right now anyway – he's playing in Asia right now and won't be back until mid-week sometime.

We'll try not to mess up his home while he's away! ;^)

Before I get to that part of the report, let's back up and cover the news from the start of my day back at home in Witch Falls. I was up early; grabbed a shower; got appropriately for a travel day; and put the last few things I still needed to take along with me into my bags before carrying them downstairs. I was first to the kitchen, so I put a pot of coffee on for Mom and Dad, and then I went outside to catch a bit of fresh air and early-morning sunshine. We didn't have time for Tai Chi today, but Dad made sure that I had a good breakfast before heading out on the drive to the airport. We needed to be at the school for seven o'clock; and Dad made sure that we were there a few minutes early.

The rest of my classmates didn't have everyone in their families come to see them off, but I also wasn't the only one who did – though I was the only teen with aunts, uncles, and cousins there too. Aunt Deborah and Leah were there to see Uncle Nick off, and Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and Zack came to see me – though they didn't make it to the school until about five minutes before we left. While I was one of the first teens there, Lisa and Gretchen both beat me to the school because their mothers are the two non-Magi chaperones and drivers; so they had a slightly earlier start time. Tim's mother was there early too, but he'd been too slow getting ready; so Tracey had left without him and let him walk over.

Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I were with Tracey in her SUV for the long run to the airport, so I loaded my bags while waiting for everyone else to arrive. Pastor John stopped in at the school and shared a prayer with us shortly before we needed to load up and hit the road, and while his thoughtfulness earned some teen eye rolls; I thought that it was very special to have a Pastor who always thinks about those little details while caring for his congregation. I was definitely one of the last to take my seat by the time I'd finished with all of the goodbye hugs and kisses; so I didn't have long to wait before we were on our way out of town by seven-thirty; and starting on our big adventure.

I haven't really done all that much flying, but I have been on more flights than most of my friends and classmates; so the air time wasn't as much of an adventure for me as it was for everyone else. The drive to the airport was entertaining from the start when Michael and I got to sit together while Tracey had Rowen and Tim split up – with Tim riding shotgun in the front seat with her. We couldn't exactly talk about our trip for the entire two and a half hours, but we still managed to find enough to talk about and do to fill up those two and a half hours. Getting from the parking garage to our gate wasn't much fun at all, but our chaperones seemed happy to get all of us through that without major problems or losing any teens along the way.

Tracey and the other drivers had rain to deal with on the way to the airport, and that also caused some slight delays for take-off too; so we had a bit of a wait before boarding, and another one while in line for take-off. We had one stop on the way to Washington, but also had a long-enough wait that our delay didn't cause a problem. Layovers do make for a long day of mostly sitting around, though, and we were all very happy to be nearly finished our travel for the day by the time we touched down at the airport in Washington. Getting our luggage took a while, but Uncle Nick had our hotel shuttle taken care of by the time we finished waiting around for our bags; so we then had a fairly quick trip to our hotel.

Check-in didn't take long either, because everything was already set up for our little group; so it was basically just a matter of distributing keycards and taking our bags up to our rooms. Rowen and I were in a room with Sally and Gretchen – one of the three 'girls' rooms. There were three girls' rooms with one group of three; and three boys' groups. It would have been nice if Michael and Tim had gotten the room with just two guys, but they didn't get that lucky; and are sharing their room with Marc Johnson and Joshua Parker. That works out okay for Sally, Rowen, and me; but Gretchen is happily single while Marc is dating Lily. Since Gretchen's mother is one of our chaperones, she told us that she'll be on her best behavior anyway; though that doesn't mean that Sally, Rowen, and I won't still try to help her out with having fun – or checking out potential boys of interest for her too.

We only have one single in a room for our group, and though I hear there was some joking about having Uncle Nick share a room with two of the other chaperones; Aunt Deborah vetoed that suggestion so he's on his own for the week. Tracey and Principal Jacobs are sharing the room next to ours; Uncle Nick is across the hallway from us; while Gretchen's mother, Jocelyn, and Lisa's Mom, Audrey, are at the other end of our little block of rooms. I wasn't surprised about having my Magi protectors close to my room; but we did get teased a bit by our friends about why our group needed to be closest to our teacher and principal. We just played along with that and had fun – and having fun is exactly what we expect to be doing all week.

Uncle Nick – Mr. Ayres – gave us a half hour to freshen up and then it was time to go out for dinner. Since our travel times could have been delayed a lot, we didn't have reservations anywhere tonight; and that meant going for fast food instead of trying out any of the more famous restaurants. Pizza worked for us, though; and there's a good chance that Michael and I could be the only teens who will appreciate the better dinner options we'll have over the next few nights. Even a fast food dinner for twenty-six takes a while, so it was heading toward nine o'clock by the time we got back to the hotel again. We had some free time then to go exploring; though one of us had private instructions to stay close to the hotel – or be with one or more of my 'special' chaperones. That wasn't really an inconvenience for me because everyone stayed close to the hotel anyway instead of venturing out into the city streets.

An eleven o'clock room check probably sounds early to some of you reading this in the future, but the time was set more because we'll be starting early each morning – and it's not as if any of us were sleeping by then anyway. Let's start with covering the obvious – four girls and one bath when we all wanted to have a shower or soak after a long day stuck in cars and planes. That's a big reason for why it's after one o'clock as I'm writing this – I needed to wait for two of my roommates to get to sleep first; after we'd all taken turns getting cleaned up and ready for bed.

The girl chat time was fun, and though Michael and I didn't get to share anything hotter than a goodnight kiss outside of my room tonight; the rest of our day together was pretty good. Tomorrow is going to be even better, so I should wrap this up now; Rowen and I both need to put our computers away; and we need to get some sleep too.

Rowen just reminded me that we'll be four girls sharing a bathroom in the morning too. I should've booked my Tai Chi with Michael even earlier! Oh well – we'll work it out. That is going to be all I have for tonight, though; so, until next time...

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

Monday, April 28, 2014

Happy 12th Birthday, Emma!

I couldn't be there to celebrate, and you might think that our first day of adventure and fun in Washington should come ahead of birthdays back at home; but my family and friends will always come first for me. Hopefully Emma's had a great day; and I hope she likes the gift Michael and I left for her.

My day started out great when Michael and I went outside for Tai Chi at sunrise. That earned us some attention from other hotel guests and staff; and that was as much fun for us as always. After that – and a few good morning kisses – I had to share bathroom time with my roommates in a mad dash to get ready for the day – starting with breakfast for twenty-six. We were all fired up about our first day in the Capitol, and while I'm still looking forward to our visits to two of the Smithsonian museums; I was okay with the change in our itinerary that Uncle Nick and Principal Jacobs made for today due to the weather forecast for the rest of the week. Basically, we've switched our Monday and Wednesday schedules for the morning and afternoon; and we went on the Memorials and Monuments tour today.

There are some advantages to mostly self-guided touring!

Breakfast was decent, if no comparision to Jacob's cooking, and then we were on the go and off to the National Mall and an all-morning tour of the monuments and nearby Memorials.

Before I get to that, let's just mention for the record that the girls in our class – who shall remain un-named here – were hopefully joking about being devastated after finding out that the National Mall is a park and not a shopping attraction. There has to be at least one or two in every group; but that doesn't make it any less scary.

Now, on to my impressions of everything we saw today.

My perspective is definitely affected by my education, and in this case; the millennia of history that I know in details far beyond anyone else except Mom. That doesn't make architecture like the Washington Monument or Lincoln Memorial any less impressive; but that is still in context of comparing history that is only decades or centuries old to thousands of years in the past. The Washington Monument will be open again soon after undergoing years of repair from the earthquake and storm in twenty-eleven, so we didn't get to go into it; but it's still something to see. The Lincoln Memorial had more of an impact on me; though that was more from seeing the inscriptions of Lincoln's famous speeches – and the history that surrounds the place. With all of my abilities, and knowing a lot about history, doesn't change the fact that there's something special about personal, hands-on experience – and the undeniable feeling of being in a place where great people have stood and history has been made.

Those feelings don't change who I am, and I can't help but also point out that there is not a single monument or memorial anywhere in the world for any Magi of the Light. Many of those Magi did far greater deeds than any President or leader of any kind; yet most of those events are lost to history – intentionally. Any Magi reading this will understand why that happens, and I certainly do too; but I am also thinking tonight about why I'm still so deeply affected by some of our nation's great displays of hubris. I'm sure that perception would be ridiculed by the masses, but if we were truly the greatest nation on earth; we'd have been solving world hunger and there would be peace everywhere instead of palatial homes for our leaders and billions of dollars spent on what's essentially idolatry.

Time to step off of my soapbox and move along.

The second half of our day was more somber – which is why Uncle Nick hadn't planned this for our first or last day in the city. I can assure you that my perspective on Memorial Day at home in Witch Falls is going to be different this year after visiting the war memorials and Arlington Cemetery. I'm also not going to step back up to the podium for a rant on the futility and waste of war. Instead, I'll just be quietly horrified and saddened for all of those men and women who have been lost to war; and the families that have suffered from those losses. All of those deaths over the centuries is mind-numbing; and the lost potential for our country is incalculable.

It seemed appropriate to me that the rain started to fall as we neared the end of our afternoon tour; though I was also okay with the fact that it didn't start raining harder until we were on our way back to the hotel. We – okay, the girls – were given a half hour to freshen up before heading out to our dinner and a movie night; and then we were on the go again. I love Chinese food! We don't exactly have many opportunities to have it back home; but I was reminded tonight that I seriously need to find a good Chinese restaurant in Crystal Springs and put meals there onto some of our shopping itineraries.

The food was great, though we didn't really have that much time to eat before needing to move on to the theater for the early show. There was nothing educational about our evening entertainment, and teens from cities would probably think it was a boring way to spend an evening in the Capitol; but that wasn't the case for most of us – and it wasn't as if we could have had any outdoor fun with it raining anyway.

More than half of our group picked Captain America for their evening entertainment, including some of our friends who had already seen it with us on Gil's birthday; but the rest of us opted for Transcendence – including a few girls who were happy to see anything with Johnny Depp in it. I wouldn't dream of criticizing Johnny Depp or anyone else involved in the movie – particularly around my Depp-fan friends – so let's just say that Transcendence wasn't; and leave it at that.

The cuddle time with Michael was very nice, though; so it wasn't a total write-off of our time! ;^)

We went straight back to the hotel from the theater, and were left with just a little time for socializing before our eleven o'clock room check. I'm sure that it was just random luck that put Michael and me alone in my room for nearly a half hour while the rest of our roommates were either in his room or off having a snack break with some of the other teens. I'm sure that our parents will hear about it, but my Magi chaperones pretended not to notice that we were alone and unsupervised in a hotel room. I'm not going to write anything more about that little blast of fun either; other than to say that we took advantage of the opportunity – and are both very happy campers.

Don't be shocked – and we weren't the only couple looking for some alone time either.

Speaking of couples, though, I haven't mentioned the teen drama from last night that most of us didn't find out about until this morning. Kris Robinson broke up with Denise Burroughs sometime last night between dinner and our bed check. His timing sucks, and Denise was upset today; but then she also seems to be getting past that fairly quickly too. We'll see, but maybe they'll be happier this week than they would have been hanging out together when they weren't really getting along anyway. That is two of the troubled couples down with just one to go. I'll guess there will be more to come on that soon.

There was some tub time going on in our room tonight, but Rowen and I weren't in on that; and instead left the bubble baths to Gretchen and Sally to take turns having while we spent some time on our computers and chatted about everything from our adventures so far and plans for tomorrow to boys and YouTube videos. It was past midnight before we were all in bed, and I waited until Gretchen and Sally were sleeping before doing the bit of family business work done that had popped up in my email. I did a Hathorne Industries check too; and they're all in New York with no listed plans to travel to Washington this week. Mom's checking that more often for me; and will let Uncle Nick, Principal Jacobs, or Tracey know if that changes during the daytime while we're out and busy. I'm not getting any bad feelings, but then that doesn't always happen with much notice either; so we'll be careful.

As I'm getting ready to wrap this up for the night, it seems as though my reporting on our trip so far has been a bit under-whelming – particularly when I've written almost nothing about the city. All of my classmates share feelings of pride and awe for our Capitol, and there are lots of comments about what we see as we're driving around the city. I have that sense of pride too, but to be honest; I'm also often a bit overwhelmed by the empathic vibes around here. I have that problem to a certain extent in all cities, but it's particularly tough to handle in big cities and crowded areas – especially when the bad vibes outweigh the good ones.

That's definitely the case here; though there's a contrast between tourist crowds and the locals and visiting dignitaries and businesspersons. Since we're going to be at the White House and on Capitol Hill tomorrow; I'm probably going to be in for an interesting day.

I really should wrap this up now; though I'm not sure that sleep is going to come easily tonight. Rowen's still fired up too, though, so we'll eventually talk ourselves out and crash for a few hours.

Until next time; live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

The first thing I want to report from today is that the top tier of our federal government could seriously use some Magi-powered honesty. I'm seriously into empathic overload tonight; and some of what I picked up today was just as ugly as anything I sensed the few times I was around Corwyn or Gawain Hathorne.

That isn't a very nice thing to find out for sure about my country's leaders, but I doubt that there are really all that many people living outside the beltway who would be surprised at that revelation. There would be a lot of shock if I could reveal the things I learned today; but that can't happen. It isn't all dark and sinister in the halls of power here, but there also isn't much light either right now; and I have no idea what it will take to change things for the better here.

It's been raining pretty much all day here, which fits right in with my inner mood – even though I've tried my best to be happy on the outside. That isn't to say that I haven't had any fun, because we have had a pretty good day for everything except for the barrage of empathic ugliness I've been under. Though I know more about the White House and Capitol Hill than most people who live and work here, thanks in part to some archive records; it was pretty special getting to do those tours with Michael, Rowen, Tim, and the rest of our friends. The buildings really are very cool to see in person; and it was fun to watch my friends too as they experienced politics up close and personal for the first time.

Those reactions were fairly diverse, and while I was the only person in our group – or in the city, for that matter – who could passively sense so much empathically; I wasn't the only one taking everything we heard with a large grain of salt. To be more blunt, as one of my friends suggested; it's a good thing that bullshit alarms aren't part of the security systems or they'd be going off all of the time! Thankfully, he saved that critique for after we were on the way back to our hotel this afternoon; since that observation probably wouldn't be amusing to some of the people working on Capitol Hill.

Continuing along those lines, most of us had our personal bullshit alarms working just fine today; and we especially needed them while having lunch with one of our Congresspersons. In this particular case, Congressman is appropriate, though I won't name him; or write about some of the things I learned from being in close proximity to him. I know that there's a propensity for citizens to believe the best in their own representatives while being much less charitable of the rest of our government, but if I had that bias before today; I don't anymore.

After a busy day of tours and empathic overload, I was as ready as anyone in our group to have a fun night of dining and shopping; and we started and ended that part of our day with a full-immersion experience on the Washington Metro system – a first for most of my friends. That was fairly entertaining for me, but my favorite part of the evening was our seafood dinner stop. That's one thing that I've definitely missed since needing to move from our last home on the Atlantic coast; and Michael and I were the only teens in our group who were adventurous enough to try some of the really great menu options. We each picked different meals and appetizers; and then shared everything so we could try more of the different foods – though we got in on some mixed platters with the adults in our group too.

For the rest of the girls, it was the visit to the DC USA Mall that was the most fun, and while I do love shopping as much as the next girl; a chain store in Washington D.C. isn't so much different than the version in Crystal Springs that it gets to the top of my list of best moments of our trip so far. There were some small, local shops that were interesting enough, and Rowen and I both picked up some new clothes and some gifts to take back home with us; while Michael and Tim kept themselves entertained by checking out the electronics, gaming, and sporting goods at the usual 'guy' stores.

They still spent some of that time with us; but we spent as much time with Gretchen, Sally, and some of the other girls. We did some of our gift shopping together, particularly when Rowen and I wanted some guy advice on gifts for other boys – like our brothers. We ended up having a bit more than two hours of shopping time before we needed to head back to our hotel; and then almost no time left once we were there before the bed checks were done at eleven.

Doing goodnight hugs and kisses with my boyfriend is not exactly romantic when you have a chaperone standing nearby; tapping on a watch to let you know that you're not in your rooms on time. At least I didn't have to deal with the added stress of having a parent for one of those chaperones, though in Tim's case; he's pretty much exactly the same around his mother as he is the rest of the time. That probably scares her now and then; but at least she knows he isn't playing any teen games with her.

Rowen and I got to have turns in the tub tonight while Sally and Gretchen led the post bed check entertainment and chat time; and it was once again heading toward twelve-thirty by the time they were falling asleep and I was able to start my usual nightly computer checks. There's nothing new going on with the Hathornes that I could find; I had a bit more family business work come up that I took care of; and there were more than a dozen email to read and answer from my family and friends. Rowen fell asleep already too, but it'll be a while longer before I'm wound down enough to get some rest.

We're getting a lot of rain now, and that's going to continue all day tomorrow; so it's a good thing that we'll be hanging out at two of the Smithsonian museums for the day. The guys are all fired up about the second-half of those plans because space is way cooler than history; but I think that I'll probably enjoy seeing the history of both places more – particularly when being able to put the artifacts into context with my Magi archive knowledge of those events and eras.

Our steakhouse dinner plans for tomorrow evening are still on, but since the evening entertainment was going to fit in with our Memorials and Monuments day, and required good weather; we're tentatively going to have a free evening instead. I wonder if anyone would notice if Michael and I disappeared; hid in one of our rooms; and made out for a couple of hours.

Yeah, I've got three Magi chaperones; so I'm sure our absence would be noticed. Then again, being in one of our rooms would be safer than going out anywhere on our own; so it might just work! ;^)

That's a nice thought to wrap this up with, so I'm going to call it a night and try to get some nap time in before it'll be time for Tai Chi with Michael again. Until next time...

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

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Okay, it's the last day of April – enough with the rain already; let's get on with the May flowers!

The rain didn't seriously mess with our adventures today, but we still had some wet moments getting between our shuttle bus and the hotel, Smithsonian buildings, or restaurants. Michael and I would have rather been outdoors for Tai Chi yesterday and today, but that's only because we felt a bit closed in by our spectators in the area we'd picked to exercise on the main floor of the lobby.

My reports this week have been fairly negative about some of my experiences here in our Capitol, but that isn't the case today when it comes to the Smithsonian museums. If there's one thing that we know from ancient history, it's that the little details get lost over time. There have been entire empires for which we now know almost nothing – though Mom, Ethan, Ehlana, and I have access to more knowledge for things like that than anyone else does thanks to our archives. The point here, though, is that the Smithsonian is a wonderful resource, and while the trappings of power here seem way over the top to me; I'm glad that we do have this particular national treasure.

We spent the morning immersed in history; had a fast food lunch; and then just spaced out for the afternoon. The Space museum was the teen favorite, and the IMAX show, Dark Universe, was both a first for most of my classmates and a highlight of the day. There was so much going on at the museums today that I'd have to write all night to cover it all, but instead of doing that; I'll just recommend that everyone put a visit to the Smithsonian on their lifetime to-do list – assuming it's still there whenever you're reading this in the future. If going to Washington isn't an option, there are virtual tours that can be found online; but that isn't the same as being there.

Our IMAX immersion into the 'Dark Universe' ended our visit to the space museum, and our schedule for the day ended with a steakhouse dinner that went over better with most of the guys in our group than seafood night had. Getting a 'free' evening didn't mean we could do anything we wanted, and with the ongoing rain around here; outdoor play time was not an option. More shopping for some of the girls was approved and they had our two non-Magi chaperones along to supervise that little adventure. Uncle Nick took another group out in search of video arcade action; and the rest of us stayed at the hotel.

Staying in tonight had everything to do with getting some alone time – at least for Michael and me; and for Rowen and Tim too. Michael and I were in my room while Rowen and Tim were in his. I wouldn't rank that couple of hours on the list of hottest moments ever for us, mostly because there were three other girls with keycards to the room; but we did have fun and watched a half-decent movie while enjoying a bit of semi-intimate play time.

Rowen got back here about fifteen minutes ago and Michael went over to his room then too; and we're still waiting for Sally and Gretchen to get back from their shopping adventure. That's why I'm writing this now; and I have every intention of being asleep before midnight this time. That isn't an end-of-month thing; it's just that I'm getting tired and can use the extra rest going into our last full day here in Washington.

Before I wrap this up, though, there is a bit of news from home to report. Uncle Adam bought a new minivan today after Sarah Landry talked him into a month-end deal he couldn't refuse. It's basically a slate-gray, newer version of Mom's minivan; and the choice of vehicle was definitely influenced by the need for space when hauling babies, car seats, and gear around before even getting to things like picking up groceries or supplies.

With two minivans now, we girls might not even need to borrow Dad's truck for our big shopping trips anymore!

We have incoming roommates, so it's time to go. If anything else comes up; I'll add it to the next update. Until next time...

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

May 2014

Thursday, May 1, 2014

It's May, but there were still April showers hanging on today; though not as much as we've had over the past two days. Maybe Mother Nature has been telling us that a bunch of kids from Witch Falls don't belong in a place like Washington; since it's just starting to clear up now that we're down to hours before we head home in the morning.

Another long travel day is a good reason for me to keep this short and get some extra sleep; but I have a lot to cover tonight – and will likely be winding down for a while.

The main reason for that is because I had a stalker following me around while we were in Colonial Williamsburg today – someone I had hoped we wouldn't see while on this trip – or ever again, for that matter.

Gawain Hathorne – aka, as Aunt Leanne would say, my sperm donor – came to Williamsburg for reasons that I can only speculate at now because he didn't attempt to make contact with me. My guess is that he had a change of heart about whatever he did have planned for us today; which was a good thing for all of us. He didn't use his powers at all while around us, and stayed far enough away that I didn't pick up anything empathically, but the last time that I caught a glimpse of him before he left; he didn't seem to be angry at all. If anything, I'd say he looked a bit sad and regretful.

His appearance had a fairly significant impact on my morning, and even though nothing happened; I stayed close to my Magi chaperones; let Uncle Nick know that I had a potential problem; and tried to juggle playing happy student tourist while wondering if I was going to have another confrontation with Gawain that could put some of the people I love most in danger. I knew that there was danger approaching before I saw him, but there wasn't anything I could do about it by then, and in this case; it seems that a Dark Magi made a good choice for a change.

There's no point in dragging this out too long, but before I move on; I should mention that Gawain has definitely not changed sides or anything. We know a lot of what goes on around Hathorne Industries; and he and Kellie – and Gwyneth – all still do a lot of very bad things on a regular basis. I know, Gwyneth isn't quite three yet, but there are enough unfortunate 'accidents' happening around her – particularly with her nannies or teachers – to suggest that bad things happen when she gets upset. If Gawain really did decide to walk away and leave me alone from now on, there's a ray of hope for his soul; but I doubt that even he knows if he's strong enough to turn away from the dark.

I'll have just a bit more on that as we go along with the update; but let's get to the sightseeing and fun with friends part of the report.

The top story on the grapevine morning news wasn't fun, but then Sally and Gretchen gave Rowen and me the heads up on it when they got back to our room last night. Nora broke up with Brock, which wasn't really a surprise to any of us; since Nora had basically been ignoring her boyfriend all week while hanging out with Vanessa and flirting with what seemed like every boy they met and thought was hot or interesting. There are always lots of student tours going on in this city; so there were lots of boys for them to flirt with – even here at our hotel.

Unlike the other two recent break-ups, Nora didn't leave a broken-hearted partner in her wake. Brock is more mad about the whole thing than anything else, and while I'd say that Nora's break-up with Tim was a lot worse; Brock didn't have anything nice to say about Nora today – though he did keep his comments quiet and only with his best friend. No, I wasn't eavesdropping – unless you consider the fact that I pick up everything around me and remember it all whether I want to or not.

We were up and on the road very early this morning because our first stop of the day was to have breakfast in Williamsburg. Michael and I didn't have time for Tai Chi, and I was very glad that I didn't stay up late and got an extra couple of hours of down time – especially considering the unexpected company we had today. The first thing I want to mention about our destination today is that it is impossible to see everything in one day, and if you want to hit all of the attractions and amusement parks here; plan on spending a week here.

Since I do really love history, this was as much fun for me as the Smithsonian was yesterday. Only having a morning to be immersed in colonial life in Williamsburg was too short, and being distracted by Gawain made it harder to appreciate the experience at the time; but I do at least have all of those memories, and can replay them later with a Dark Magi filter on to screen out that part of the adventure. I haven't been able to tell Rowen about Gawain coming to see me yet, but Michael was in the loop; and I really appreciated his silent report – and the extra hugs and kisses were pretty good too.

Uncle Nick and Principal Jacobs picked the few places we had time to explore on our tour around Williamsburg, and while there was no way to do everything; we did cover three different aspects of colonial life; and I loved the stories and semi-real history come to life. As I mentioned, I have no idea why Gawain decided to leave, but he did just that instead of following us when it was time for us to move on to Jamestown for the afternoon. That last time that I saw him – without allowing him to know I was watching; we were both heading toward the parking lots. I know that he didn't follow us because I was able to sense it when he started using his powers again. Fortunately, he was far enough away from us by then that none of the other Magi in our group sensed him too, or at least if they did; nobody gave any indication that they had. I'll ask Michael and Rowen about that – and Uncle Nick – after we get home and can talk about it.

I can also tell you that Gawain didn't use normal Hathorne transportation to get here; which is why we didn't get a warning from Mom – there was nothing on the systems we check to indicate he'd left New York at all. Hopefully that doesn't mean he suspects or knows that we've gotten into their computer systems. That's something else for us to talk about, though his choice of travel options might have been to conceal what he was doing from Kellie and Gwyneth. Not using his power overtly while close to me was certainly meant to keep me from knowing he was there, so he has learned a few things from our first two confrontations; but he just as obviously doesn't know that we can sense danger of any kind.

Yeah, I know, but can you really blame me for spending so much time thinking about that tonight?

I was able to enjoy our time in Jamestown more without any Dark Magi lurking around; and we again did a bit of a whirlwind tour after lunch that only allowed us the chance to do a few of the activities before it was time to head back to our hotel. While there was less rain today, we did still get damp a couple of times; so we were given a half hour to change and freshen up before going out for dinner and an evening hanging out around the National Mall. That was only an option because we finally got a break from the rain; though everything was also still fairly wet. We had a few choices for dinner, and Michael and I went with one of the fast food groups so that we could spend more time wandering around the National Mall. We had Rowen, Tim, Sally, Joshua, Gretchen, and Tracey with us – with Tracey assigned to stick with me just in case Gawain was still in the area.

We thought about renting bikes, but changed our minds when we found out how much that would've cost us for eight bikes. This is seriously not a place to visit if you're looking for a low-cost vacation!

While I'm thinking about that, I haven't mentioned the financial side of our trip in my journal yet; and probably should just in case it's done differently in the future. The Grade Eight and Grade Twelve Seniors' trips are both fully paid for except for spending money – and there's even a little slush fund available for the teachers to use to help students when needed. That's why there was no need for fundraising or having the parents pay for our trip; though it is the parents and businesses that support the school trip fund. Most of my classmates don't have any idea how much this trip cost, but I do; and I really appreciate everyone who helped to make this possible for us – including my own parents, family, and our family business.

I really do need to move this along and then try to get some sleep since we have to be up very early again and head out to the airport. After having our quick, fast food fix; we went for a long walk around as much of the National Mall as we could cover and still be back to our rendezvous point on time. We'd been a bit surprised that Gretchen had opted to hang out with us tonight, but I'm glad that she did; because we had a lot of fun together. She may have just been tired of hanging out with the 'single' girls; since she isn't into doing the kind of flirting that Vanessa and Nora found so entertaining.

Memo to me: start inviting Sally, Joshua, and Gretchen to do more things with us. That isn't easy when they all live on farms and have their own responsibilities and lives; but we really have fun when we can hang out together outside of school. I'll at least add it to my to-do list; and maybe I'll have better success with that than I do with so many other things that I never seem to get around to doing more often.

Our chaperones had us rounded up by ten; it was a quick hop back to our hotel; and then we had a bit of time to hang out with the boys before they needed to get back to their room in time for our bed checks. Rowen and Gretchen opted for showers tonight once we were on our own while Sally and I will do the early wake-up shower times in the morning. We were all in bed by shortly after midnight; Gretchen, Sally, and Rowen are all sleeping now; and I did about forty-five minutes of work before getting to this update.

I'm still wound up, and if I'm honest about it, a bit disappointed that nothing did happen with Gawain today; but I do know how fortunate we are that Gawain didn't force a confrontation or a test of powers. Knowing that didn't keep me from visualizing scenarios – particularly earlier tonight while we were near the monuments and memorials. I'm sure that there are lots of people who would be happy to know that those scenes are relegated to my imagination – especially when they're just about ready to re-open the Washington monument after spending years repairing it!

Maybe I should cut back on my Hollywood movie intake! ;^)

Anyway, I don't really have anything else to write about tonight, so I'm going to pack up my computer and probably lay awake staring at the ceiling and thinking too much for too long before having a nap for an hour or three. This is my last report from Washington D.C., and while this has been an amazing week; I am going to be so glad to get home again where love and light is the empathic rule instead of the exception. Until then...

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

Friday, May 2, 2014

I have loved doing five hotel sleepovers with my friends; but I'm also very glad to be home in my own room tonight; getting to spend some quality time with my Jacuzzi; and now cuddling in bed with Mandy.

It's been a crazy-busy day, and I'm getting tired fast after not getting much sleep last night; so let's get started on the top news.

Happy 1st Birthday, Leah!

Her big day started while we were still at the airport in Washington this morning; dealing with boarding passes, luggage checks, and clearing security. I can't resist mentioning here that our Capitol city is quite possibly the least 'free' place in the entire 'Land of the Free' – in more than one way. President Obama is back in the (White) house after his trip to Asia, and since he does have a daughter who is just a few months younger than me; I can't help wondering why he doesn't seem to have a problem with using such invasive security systems on anyone; but particularly on teenage girls.

All of that is another collectively big reason for why I'm glad to be home again. We don't find much need for scanners, metal detectors, bomb-sniffing dogs, or heavily armed security around here; and I'm not going to miss dealing with that in Washington. I'd invite the President to come for a visit and bring a few Senators and Congresspersons to find out what freedom and community looks like, but then they'd just haul all of that security along with them; make our lives here hell for a few hours; and never get to see what 'real' life is like here anyway.

Getting back to the story, though, I have to admit that I was a bit nervous at the airport this morning after seeing Gawain yesterday. He has the power and resources available to him that could make things interesting for me if he tried to have my cover identity blown up or questioned. Nothing happened today either; and I didn't have any problems clearing security again – or at least no more trouble than every passenger has to deal with now. Our flight out was close to on-time, and that was a good thing because our return layover stop was short; so we didn't really have much of a break at all before we were in the air again and winging our way home.

After a very early wake-up call so that we could be checked out and at the airport by seven-thirty, everyone in our group was glad to be back at our 'home' airport this afternoon; and though we'd still had the long drive home ahead of us, we were pretty upbeat and excited. Since Uncle Nick had already missed out on a lot of Leah's big day, he was particularly interested in getting home again; so it was his idea to hit a drive thru for fast food to go once we'd rounded up our luggage and loaded up into five cars, trucks, and minivans. Rowen, Tim, Michael, and I were with Tracey again for the ride home, and I rode in the front seat with Tracey this time so that Rowen and Tim could sit together. When we stopped for food, I picked up extra to take home to Aunt Leanne; but the timing wasn't really great for that with Leah's birthday dinner on the schedule – not that she had a problem with that when Michael and I delivered the food to her.

We pulled into the school parking lot at four-thirty, and while we weren't late; we still had a full welcoming committee for every teen, so somebody must have called or texted ahead with our ETA. Mom, Aunt Leanne, Ethan, and Ehlana were there to get Michael and me; and I'm not at all embarrassed to admit that I was the first teen to run to my family and get started on the welcome home hugs and kisses. That little reunion took a while by the time we'd transferred luggage, had a little visit, and I'd done some goodbye hugs and kisses with friends I wouldn't see again until Sunday at church or Monday at school.

Mom drove back to our house, and Ethan 'helped' Michael with taking his luggage home while I had three helpers to get mine inside and up to my room – except for the bag of laundry I left in the laundry room before taking everything else upstairs. Aunt Leanne microwaved her fast food snack before coming upstairs too; and we had a little girl chat time while waiting for Michael and Ethan to join us. Michael and I only had time to hand out some souvenirs before we needed to take a few more with us – and Leah's birthday gifts – and hurry over to the Ayres' house to help out with the party.

Sometimes, our family probably seems a bit strange to outsiders; but I usually don't even think about the fact that Ethan, Ehlana, and I aren't technically related to Leah and her parents at all – and neither are our parents and grandparents; yet they were all at the party tonight too. Grandma and Grandpa were already at Leah's grandparents' house when we got there; and they'd been watching Zack while Aunt Leanne had been busy doing a few things with Mom before going over to the school to get Michael and me. Zack's still enough younger than his cousin that Leah doesn't find him particularly fun to hang around with; but I'm sure that'll change once they're both old enough to toddle around together. Today, Leah was much more interested in hanging out with her usual daycare friends – Hailey Draper and Rebekkah Burroughs.

Grandma Ayres had lots of help in the kitchen by the time we arrived, so Michael and I were put on kid-control duty and sent outside with Ethan and Ehlana. Uncle Nick was there already, and was outside playing with Leah and her friends while waiting for Aunt Deborah to get there from the clinic. We had quite a few parents to wait for; though Friday night store hours weren't going to let everyone get away from work. Leah's Grandpa Ayres needed to be at his store, and though Liz was working too; she came over during her dinner break so that she could spend some time with us – and with Philip, Naomi, and Eli. There's another connection that seems strange when you think about it – Ehlana's best friend actually is cousins with our non-really-related cousin. Eli and Zack aren't related to each other, but they are both Leah's cousins; and all three of them will be in the same grade when they start school in a bit over four years from now.

Before I get started on the party report, let's cover a few other items of interest that I haven't included yet. First up, the weather forecast for Washington was for warm and sunny today after a week of clouds and rain for most of our visit there. There was lots of rain this week in Witch Falls too, but it's been sunny and warmer today for our return. Could there be a connection? Maybe, but whether there is or not; we are all going to be happy here with some nice weather for the weekend!

Michael and I also didn't have time to stop in and see his parents at the Inn before Leah's dinner; but he did see Rebecca for a minute when he stopped in at home; and we popped into the Inn for a quick chat, hugs, and kisses between dinner and the clean-up. Finally, there was one thing about coming home that was particularly special for me – the change in empathic vibe around me. That was dramatic, and while I hadn't really even thought about that part of my daily life at all in a long time before our trip; I certainly appreciate being back in the light again now after five days when I was often immersed in empathic darkness.

Leah's party and dinner was fun, entertaining, and occasionally a bit scary as the youngest kids managed to make quite a mess – particularly during dinner and while eating cake and ice cream. If it was summertime, we probably would have just dunked the lot of them in the river to clean them off, but since that wasn't an option; it took a while to deal with that. Leah had lots of gifts to open, so that took a while too; but she had help and didn't have a problem with shredding wrapping paper and sending it flying to find out what was inside each gift.

Michael and I were on the outside of the action during most of that time, but that gave us a chance to talk with Ethan, Ehlana, and Naomi while we ate; and have shorter visits with the rest of my family. As mentioned, we checked in with his parents at the Inn; then came back to the party and joined the clean-up crew while some of the parents played games with Leah and her friends and cousins. One good thing about a party for one-year old kids is that they – the kids – run out of steam; and the parties wrap up early. I was really glad when Mom and Dad led a gang back to our house; we got drinks; and settled in for some chat time in the living room.

Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and Zack came home with us; and I'm sure that it's no surprise to anyone reading this that my close encounter with Gawain Hathorne was at the top of their list of stories they wanted to hear about from our trip. Since there really wasn't much to tell with nothing actually happening; that conversation was mostly filled up with speculation about what Gawain might have had planned and why he chose to walk away and leave me alone. I personally like Aunt Leanne's suggestion that Michael and I looked so cute and happy together that even a Dark Magi couldn't bring himself to messing that up for us.

There was also a general agreement that our issues with Gawain may be done with for now; and the council will be happy to hear that. Ethan, Ehlana, and I know that we are not done with troubles from the Hathornes and other Dark Magi; but it isn't time for us to reveal anything about that with anyone else yet. This journal won't be open to anyone before at least some of those events happen, though; so anyone reading this in my future will know what I mean anyway. Yes there are parts of our future that are scary, but the Dark Magi have never allowed an Ascension of the Light without a fight; and we have time to prepare and train so that we'll be ready for that future.

Going there with this report is a lot heavier than I wanted to get tonight; so let's move along. While the whole Dark Magi stalker thing was the top story, Michael and I also took turns talking about the rest of our trip; and he had many of the same impressions that I did of our experiences. He also picked up more empathic sensations than I would have expected without overtly using his talents; but that might say as much about just how strong the darker emotional vibe around the Capitol is than anything else. Ethan, Ehlana, and Zack obviously haven't been to Washington yet, but everyone else in the room had been at least once; so they had stories to tell us too as we talked about the different adventures we had each day. Grandpa had the most fun with that, adding impossibilities to his tall travel tales that had my brother, sister, and cousin all giggling.

We love you, Grandpa, but not even Zack is going to buy that you rode the dinosaurs around Washington on your first visit there that are now on display in the Smithsonian.

While Michael and I had the longest day, everyone was tired out by ten o'clock, so when everyone else headed home; I walked back to Michael's house with him so we could have a little bedtime visit with his parents and sister before we were all ready to call it a night. That was fun, though we couldn't talk about everything with them that we could with my family. Michael will give his mother the update about the rest of our story sometime when they can talk privately. It was closing in on eleven o'clock by the time Michael and I said goodnight on his front porch in a mostly non-verbal kind of way and I got home again.

Ethan and Ehlana were in bed by then, but I stopped in for chats with them after walking upstairs with Mom and Dad when we were all ready to head up to our rooms. I haven't gotten the full report of everything that happened here while we were away, but we'll finish that in the morning, and other than Uncle Adam's new minivan news; it sounds as though it was a fairly quiet, damp, and uneventful week. The jokes were already flying around tonight about it being quiet because I was away, but Aunt Leanne always gets those jokes too; so I'm in pretty good company there.

As I already mentioned, some quality Jacuzzi time was first on my list once I was in my room again, and it was closing in on twelve-thirty by the time I climbed into bed with Mandy and my computer. My cat was not particularly interested in my trip, but she was happy to have me home and we had a little telepathic chat while I caught up on some of the scratching I wasn't able to share with her while I was away – not that she wasn't getting lots of attention from Ethan and Ehlana instead. There were some email waiting for me to deal with, including some work-related inquiries that I took care of before moving on to the rest of my usual nightly computer checks. I've worked through all of that as quickly as possible, but it's still late now; and I've got a busy yard and house work day ahead of me. Getting back to Tai Chi by the river is going to be great too, and while I can think of things I'd rather do on a beautiful Saturday that doesn't include working all day; at least I'll be getting to do that with my family.

There are other things that I should do an update on too – like certain family pregnancies; but I'll take care of that sometime this weekend. For now, I've had enough fun; so, until next time...

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

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Before I get to the news of the day, let's do a family pregnancy update now so I don't skip it again.

Aunt Deborah and Aunt Grace are both coming up on two months now; so they're both in the middle of the whole morning sickness and mood swing phase. That sucks for both of them; but the good news is that they should each be nearly done with the worst of that in time for summer – if not by the next holiday weekend. It's a bit easier for Aunt Deborah than for Aunt Grace; though that isn't necessarily because it's her second pregnancy – she didn't have as many problems with Leah either.

I haven't been helping either moms-to-be, but they do have lots of support from other members of our collective families and friends – just as Mom and Aunt Leanne did when it was their turns over the past few years. While Aunt Deborah and Aunt Grace shouldn't have to deal with morning sickness this summer, they will be in the second trimester of their pregnancies during the hottest months of the year; so we'll all need to help them out with that – even if for me that could just mean babysitting Leah or helping out with yard work at their homes.

No, I have no idea how I'll do any of that along with everything else I expect to have on the go this summer; but I will do what I can.

That'll do for the mommy and baby news for now, but I should add that I skipped Uncle Adam's new vehicle news last night too. Michael and I got to see his new minivan while at Leah's party, and while it really is just a newer version of Mom's minivan, it is very nice; and he's happy with it so far – though he hasn't exactly driven it around much yet. Aunt Leanne is making fun of the situation, and complaining about them getting old and domesticated; but I'm also sure that she'll enjoy the extra space when hauling Zack around and doing groceries and shopping trips. The entertainment center will definitely make trips with Zack easier!

Moving on to the news of the day, I really don't have all that much to write about. Tai Chi by the river felt like coming home all over again. Dad cooked up a big breakfast that was as much to welcome me home as it was to fuel us up for a work day. Michael stayed for that so we could both hear more about what Ethan and Ehlana had been doing all week while we were away; but then he went home to do some chores there too before needing to head over to the Inn in time to help out with the lunch rush. I helped out with the kitchen cleanup, and then joined Dad outside for our yard work adventure. Seven hours of work with just three short breaks for drinks or lunch later; and the yard and house looked good when Mom and Dad set me free for the rest of the day.

I needed to hit the shower first, but then I took Ethan and Ehlana to the park for some play time before dinner; we were home again in time for dinner out on the back porch with Mom and Dad; and then we all went for a bike ride and more play time at the park. We met up with Aunt Leanne, Uncle Adam, and Zack at the park; and they came home with us for an evening drinks and snack break that Michael caught the tail end of when he came over after finishing up at the Inn for the night. He and I did the bedtime story with Ethan and Ehlana after the Carringtons went home for the night and Mom and Dad went into the office to do a little work before bedtime, and then after tucking my brother and sister in for the night; we had a couple of hours of alone time to catch up on some long-overdue play time for two that was clothing-optional and very hot.

That has a lot to do with why I'm both very happy and tired out now. Michael went home shortly before midnight, at about the same time that Mom and Dad headed to bed; and I've only done the basic computer checks since climbing into bed with Mandy and firing up my computer. There's always work I can do, but I've had enough for today; and need to get at least a bit more sleep than I've managed for most of the past week. I guess this hasn't been a very exciting first day back home, but I did get to spend it with my family; and that's been really great after nearly a week apart from them. We're going to try for a bit more family fun tomorrow, but I'm also going to help out at the Inn tomorrow too so that I can have some family time with Michael and his family too before we head back to school on Monday.

I'll try not to think about that too much until tomorrow night, but then the fun at school will start speeding up now too as we start the countdown to summer holidays. Baseball season starts next week too, so that'll be more fun – and keep us even busier; since there will be three practice nights a week that I'll be interested in this year. Writing more about that can wait until next week, though, and I really am ready to get started on my nap now; so...

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

Sunday, May 4, 2014

This has been a really great day, and I've been busy playing and working; which is why I'm going to keep this short and head off for my nap soon.

Good morning hugs, kisses, and Tai Chi by the river was the only quiet time we had through until I started on my school night studies and work again tonight after taking the past week off from my languages and most of my family business work.

Mom, Ehlana, and I had some extra play time while getting ready for church this morning, so we ended up being a bit rushed by the time we were ready to walk there with Dad and Ethan. Since we were travelling last Sunday, this was our first Sunday at church since Easter for everyone on the school trip; so we had fun while we were there; and some of us did a lot of visiting after the service and Sunday school – though Michael needed to head over to the Inn right after we were set free because the service had gone until nearly eleven o'clock. I stayed, and was busy with the meet and greet for quite a while; and then I went home and was drafted for the picnic lunch work crew.

We were hosting a family and friends, bring-what-you-have meal; and Mom and I put together a couple of side dishes while Dad got everything ready to work the grill. We had help for setting up chairs and tables when our guests started to join us after stopping in at their homes to change and pack their picnic contributions; and I was eventually on kid-control duty once we had enough help in the kitchen – and needed to entertain the younger kids. Rowen helped me with that when she came over with her family; and we played down by the river so we'd be out of the way of the work and give the parents and grandparents some kid-free chat time.

Rowen and I loved having lunch by the river with most of the younger kids too; but my favorite part of the afternoon was a canoe ride that Michael and Tim joined us for during Michael's afternoon break. Grandma and Grandpa watched Zack, but we took Leah along; and had all of my family parents (and parents-to-be) with us for the hour or so we paddled up-river and back again. The time limit was mostly for Leah's benefit; but Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden were all good with a shorter trip too.

Michael and I needed to head over to the Inn after we got back; and we were very busy for the next six hours or so. The dining room at the Inn was packed for both buffets, so the kitchen action was no-stop; and Michael and I also needed to work on our school assignments during our break. We didn't have that done by the time we were set free for the night, so we went home to his house with Rebecca; and Michael and I ended up working in the dining room until ten o'clock. I went home after that; did the bedtime story and tucking in with the twins; had my Magi lesson with Mom; and then came up to my room to get started on my studies and work at eleven-thirty.

That was more than three hours ago, and while I could have done more tonight; I don't have the extra energy left to do that. We've got a busy week ahead, starting with Sophia's third birthday tomorrow; so I really, really need to get started on that nap time now. It's not as though I was getting to sleep all that early most nights last week, but this is different; and I'll probably just need to deal with late nights for the rest of the school year to have any chance of keeping up with everything I'm going to have on the go between now and the start of summer holidays.

For now, I'm out of here, so, until next time...

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

Monday, May 5, 2014

Happy 19th Birthday, Stephanie! Happy 3rd Birthday, Sophia!

We've had another gorgeous weather day; and that helped to make everything we did today just a bit better and more fun – whether that was our first day back in school after our trip; Sophia's party; or Michael and Tim's baseball practice.

A warmer morning for Tai Chi was good too; though the rest of our morning before I left for school was fairly normal. Everyone in our class got special attention at school today as we were asked about the highlights of our trip and those stories started getting around to the other kids and teens. The two break-up stories were still news too; though that information had hit the grapevine over the weekend – or earlier via email from Washington. Mother's Day was on the radar too; particularly with the younger kids who started crafts today that they'll have ready to give to their mothers on Sunday. Finally, while our trip is over, the Senior class trip is coming up next week; so that's news too. I'm not sure whether everyone in the class is all that excited about the trip because they picked going to Ohio for the week instead of somewhere more exotic; but the pro football hall of fame is there; and Kyle talked his friends into that for their big, graduation year adventure.

Then again, he sold it to most of the other Grade Twelve teens by reminding them that a day or two at Cedar Point would be an option, and that is one of the coolest amusement parks in the country; so I'm not totally surprised that he won that vote. He probably had nearly half the votes in the bag just from giving his school a football championship anyway.

That gives me a nice little segue into Michael and Tim's return to weight training and lunchtime football; since Tim is determined to be a major contributor to the Landry football legacy here in Witch Falls. He may be avidly counting down the days to summer holidays like a lot of our school mates are doing now; but the days and weeks left until football training camp opens the last week of August is even more important to him. I'm fairly sure that he's even thinking about baseball season as just another weekly workout that'll help him get stronger and faster for football. Michael isn't as fanatical about it as Tim is; but he's also going to be there every step of the way for his best friend, and every time I watch them play their scrimmage games; it's obvious that they're getting better every week.

Since we did have such nice weather, Rowen, Sally, Gretchen, and I played football with the boys today at lunchtime, and had quite a bit of fun – particularly when we won. I'll give Tim credit for that because he picked all four of us for his team despite getting razzed by some of the other guys – though he did still pick Michael first. I actually know that was only because Michael would have been snapped up with the second pick ahead of anyone else; but it's still funny that some of the guys just can't concede that some of us girls are better at sports than they are – and won't pick us for football unless they're forced to make up mixed teams. Anyway, the point here is that Tim understood two facts about having the four of us on his team – that Rowen and I can really play; and that Sally and Gretchen didn't need to make many plays at all when their best contribution to our team was their talent for distracting the better players on the other team.

Sally was only distracting her boyfriend, but Gretchen didn't have a problem with getting attention from a few of the guys. She wasn't exactly flirting with anyone – at least not for real – but she was still very successful at diverting attention at critical moments of some of our plays. I was just glad that we were all doing something together now that we're home again; and I hope we do more of that from now on.

We're doing follow-up lessons this week in some of our classes to build on our experiences from last week; but we'll be starting a last, mini-module for these last few weeks before we get into final exam preparations. When you look at this last six weeks of school that way, with three weeks of lessons, one of studying, one for exams, and the last play week; it feels like we're practically done already!

Okay, not quite yet; but we are getting there fast!

We had a good day at school, and then Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I had fun studying at my house; though we had to rush that a bit so that Michael and I could take Ethan and Ehlana with us over to Sophia's house for her party. One of my favorite parts of this party was that Michael's parents had the day off and could be there for it; which they hadn't been able to do for Jessica's party. Sophia had more Bassett aunts and uncles there too; though most of them were only there for the dinner – and not for the pre and post-dinner games and entertainment.

While Sophia had a slightly different mix of friends at her party than Ethan and Ehlana would; she still had Naomi and Aiden there along with some of their other KidZone friends. Since most of those kids will be classmates of Ethan's and Ehlana's; I liked getting to spend time with them – particularly the kids I don't know very well yet.

That was all a whirlwind blast of work and fun for Michael and me because he needed to head over to the school for his baseball practice at seven o'clock. We managed to be there for the early games; helped to get all of the kids fed; and caught the cake and gift round before Rowen and Tim stopped in to collect us on their way to the school from her house. While Rowen and I were only spectators, when the weather cooperates; the first week of baseball practices definitely makes it feel like spring around here. I don't know if we'll come to watch every practice for our boys, since that might work out for play time with Ethan and Ehlana too; but I'm glad that we went to this first one.

While Michael and Tim are the best athletes in our grade, being in our current baseball division is particularly tough for the younger boys and girls because of the size difference to the Grade Nine guys. That was tougher last year when Michael and Tim were upwards of eight or nine inches shorter than the biggest guys; but even this year they're still only about half-way caught up. There's a good chance that they'll both move up the position food chain this year; but it's still tough for them competing with guys who have extra reach – particularly with the infield positions. That's not all bad, since if they were better than all of the older boys; their team this year probably wouldn't be very competitive. It's too early to say for sure; but I think they'll do okay.

That brings me to one more bit of baseball news for this season – our division is only going to have three teams each for the boys and girls groups instead of four. I guess that happens sometimes because more teens opt out of baseball when nearly every younger kid in the area plays; and this is one of those years where we didn't have enough players for four teams – so each of the remaining three get an extra player or two instead. Getting to play the other two teams three times each instead of twice will be nice, and the odds of making the championship game will be two in three instead of fifty-fifty; but I think I'd rather have more competition. The co-ed division has only had three teams in the years Mom and I have been here, though, and it works for them; so it might be okay for us too.

While we missed out on that hour and change of party time, Michael and I went back to his aunt and uncle's house to help out with the tail end of the party while Rowen went home with Tim to hang out with him for a while. The games were winding down by then, and parents were stopping in to pick up their kids; so we mostly played with the remaining kids until Sophia only had my brother and sister there. We helped with the clean-up after that; and then Michael and I took Ethan and Ehlana home with us after a long round of hugs and kisses with his family.

Ethan and Ehlana gave Mom and Dad the party recap instead of a bedtime story; Michael and I tucked them in for the night; and then he and I spent a little time playing music in my room – followed by a minor make-out session in the lounge before he needed to get home. The music time was mostly to get ready for music class and band practice because we haven't exactly had much time to practice lately. Let's just add that to the list of things I wish I had more time for; but I don't expect to get more music time between now and summer holidays. We do have the Memorial Day parade to get ready for, though, so we'll need to do a bit more practicing for that somehow.

I wouldn't have traded that alone time with Michael for anything, but that did mean that I didn't get around to my Magi lesson with Mom until after Michael went home; and it was nearly midnight before I started my studies and computer work. For the second night in a row, I've been working for three hours or so; and now I'm pretty much at the same state of exhaustion too.

Before I wrap this up, though; let's cover the college teen report. Michael, Rebecca, and their parents talked to Stephanie and Jake this morning to wish Stephanie a happy birthday; but I haven't gotten the birthday email report from her – or talked to her either. That probably means she's having a really great night; so we'll cut her some slack on that. Then again, they could also just be busy studying – just as all of my favorite collegians are doing this week. Final exams are either on the go; starting later this week; or happening next week at the different colleges, but whatever stage they're at for winding up the semester; they're all in full study mode. I'm sure there's a lot of stress going on with that, but here in Witch Falls; their exams are just a way of counting down to when they'll be home again. I'll still be stuck in school for another month after that; but it's still going to be really awesome to have Violet spending most of the summer with us.

Who knows? Maybe we'll have Dillon staying with us too! ;^)

Okay, I don't need to go there tonight; and really need to get started on my nap; so, until next time...

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

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Even junior Magi Masters need a break now and then; and it was way too gorgeous a day to waste the sunshine parts of it with after-school study sessions so we deferred that for later and had fun for a few hours after band practice instead.

That was the second-best part of my day, with the top spot going to the Michael and me play time that we got to have after tucking Ethan and Ehlana in for the night. Comments like that make us sound more like an old married couple instead of teens; particularly since my parents might have been saying the same thing tonight once their oldest kid had gone to bed after seeing her boyfriend out and on his way home. The comment is hypothetical; but the parental play time isn't. Let's not go there.

Oh, and I'm not implying that my parents are an 'old' married couple either. ;^)

It's been warmer every morning since we got back from Washington, so Tai Chi by the river has been more fun too when we don't need to bundle up to do that. The rest of the morning and school part of the day were pretty much completely back to normal; with the only change that I didn't specifically mention yesterday being that our Grade Eight couples' club currently has six fewer members. The singles don't outnumber us yet, but it is getting much closer to fifty-fifty than it has been in quite a while.

The combination of newly single teens and warm weather is beginning to bring out the teen weird, and while I don't expect to have any new pairings to report imminently; some of my classmates are already 'on the prowl' for their next boyfriend or girlfriend. Some of the guys are backsliding into extreme goofiness to supposedly impress the girls; while the available – and sometimes not-so-available – girls are dressing to impress and playing games too. While our school trip probably sped up the recent break-ups in our class, there are other teen dramas playing out in other grades right now; though I'm not going to get into that tonight. I'm sure there will be lots of those kind of updates between now and the end of the school year; since summer freedom, particularly when it comes to flirting with teen visitors and tourists; seems to be something that quite a few teens want to have every year.

Though we'd have rather been out playing immediately after school, Michael, Rowen, and I still liked getting back to band practice again after missing a week. We're continuing to work on music for the two upcoming holiday weekend parades, and the only thing that feels strange is the near-opposites in the tone of the songs between the somber Memorial Day music and the lively tunes for the Fourth of July parade. While we were busy with the band, Tim went home to get his bike and then played football with some of the guys until we were set free.

Rowen and I surprised both of our boys with the deferred study offer; and we had dinner plans at my house too by the time we'd gathered there; dropped off our gear; and collected Ethan and Ehlana to go with us for our ride and play time at the park. We did the usual construction sites tour first; rode the trails at the park; and then the boys played some football for a while. Rowen and I took Ethan and Ehlana to the playground too once Ethan had his football moments; and we headed for home just in time to have a burgers, hot dogs, and cold salads dinner by the river. Mom and Dad sat on one of the benches for that while the rest of us were on the dock; and that little break was up there on my fun list for the day too.

We had an all-teen clean-up crew after we finished dessert, and Mom and Dad took Ethan and Ehlana for a walk while we did that. They eventually collected Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and Zack; had some play time at the park; and eventually made it home again at about the same time that we were wrapping up our back porch study session. That left us with enough time for some yard play that included just a little more football for the guys and some Frisbee action for the girls. We did snack time on the back porch too; and then Rowen and Tim headed out while Michael and I were put to work doing bedtime bath and story time with Ethan and Ehlana; and Mom and Dad got to work in the office.

I skipped over the short Magi lesson that Mom did with Michael and me after we had the twins tucked in and our play time for two in the lounge; but that was a nice little blast of fun too. You can read all about my training in the journal that Mom keeps for that, and it includes lessons we do with Michael, Rowen, or the twins; but I'll try to get around to doing another update on that here later this week too. My abilities – and Michael's and Rowen's – are changing a lot right now as we go through puberty; and I think that having a Magi Master in town to mentor the Magi teachers here is having an impact on the development of teens at a critical stage in the process. That's really cool for us; and I have a feeling it's going to be even more amazing for the coming generations – starting with Ethan, Ehlana, and their Magi friends.

The last few hours have definitely not been play time here in my room, but I'm getting a lot of work done every night; and I'll need to keep doing that if I want to hit my language study goals in time to take the summer off. The family business work will continue; but I'll try and do more of that during the days when Michael's busy. Speaking of busy; I've got another packed day ahead that's going to start in just a few hours; so I should really wrap this up and get on with my nap time. I can dream about endless summer fun while I'm doing that; and deal with the work again tomorrow night.

Until next time...

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

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Happy 3rd Anniversary, Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne!

My usual Wednesday work night was nixed due to the anniversary dinner party and an evening of babysitting that Rowen helped me out with while some of my favorite adults were having their first baseball practice of the season followed by a couple of hours of anniversary party fun at Sheldon's. Since we had another amazing, hot weather day; I didn't have a problem with skipping work to play instead; though it would have been more fun if Michael could have been with us for more of that mostly toddler-rated entertainment.

I'm probably boring you with repeatedly commenting on how great it is to have warmer mornings for Tai Chi by the river, but it seemed as though winter was never going to end; and that's going to continue to be a favorite part of my days for a while. Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne were doing a special breakfast today, but it was a normal morning at our house; and they didn't even try to join us for an anniversary Tai Chi workout. Let's not speculate on what they might have been doing instead! ;^)

We had a good day at school, and in addition to lunchtime football and afternoon Phys-Ed class outdoors; we went out to do nature drawings in art class in the morning and again during history class just because it was too nice to be cooped up in our classroom. That change of venue didn't make the history of American politics any more interesting for anyone; but it was more fun. There isn't much else to report from school today; and our after-school study time at Landry's didn't really take long because there wasn't much homework today.

While we were having Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne's anniversary dinner at the Inn so that we didn't have a big clean-up to do between that and the first co-ed baseball practice; I still had things to do at home to help Mom. That included getting the lounge set up for our babysitting plans; a once-over for Ethan and Ehlana's rooms because they were having Naomi and Aiden stay with them overnight; and some kid control support – including getting kids ready to go out for dinner.

After Dad got home from work and got ready to go out too, we walked over to the Inn; and Rowen met us there after doing her usual part-time work at the computer store. Our babysitting officially started then because we were in charge of the kids' tables while our favorite parents and grandparents were busy roasting the happy couple of honor. Michael and Rebecca were allowed to join us for dinner; though they didn't do that until after the entrées were delivered to our group – which marked the end of the main rush they had for a mid-week night.

Being with the kids kept us out of the loop for most of the roasting and anniversary entertainment; though we did gather around the table that Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne were at when it was time for them to open their gifts. There was cake and ice cream too, but by then we were a bit rushed because some of us needed to get over to the park for baseball practice or playground play time. Michael and Rebecca needed to get back into the kitchen then too; so I didn't even have time to share much of a goodnight kiss with Michael – and what we did share was accompanied by giggles from Ehlana, Naomi, and some of the other younger girls.

Before we get to the kid-time report; let's talk coed baseball. Due to pregnancies, Aunt Grace and Aunt Deborah won't be playing this season; but Uncle Mark and Uncle Nick are on the team. The two women who were recruited to replace my aunts this year are Hannah Draper and her sister-in-law; Mary Robinson. Mrs. Robinson is Nathan's younger sister; and will be one of my High School teachers for the next four years. The rest of the team is pretty much the same returning players; with Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne back again after taking last year off while Aunt Leanne was taking her first turn at being a mom-to-be. The Nortons aren't playing this year; but then they'd only planned on playing last season anyway. If it was a choice for them, I'm really glad that Claire picked coaching my team over playing coed baseball!

Rowen and I didn't keep the younger kids at the ball diamond for very long; but we did stay long enough to find out that Hannah in particular was going to make this a very entertaining season for everyone. She's also the smallest player on the team, so while her edgy sense of humor isn't news; her baseball skills did surprise me. I should also mention that it was a bit strange to be hanging around the team players tonight and realize that Rowen and I are both now undeniably taller than Hannah – and closing in fast on some of the other women. It isn't as though we haven't been getting there for a while now; but it's particularly noticeable when we're all wearing the same kind of shoes – or have hair done up for Sunday or special occasions.

Since we didn't watch very much of the practice, I'll reserve judgment on the prospects for our coed team this year, but if the laughs are anything to judge by; we'll have a great season regardless of the scores!

The playground action was entertaining too; though Rowen and I were also run ragged keeping up with Ethan, Ehlana, and the rest of the kids we had with us. In addition to our official little group, we also played with the three Robinson kids; and I expect that they'll be coming along to a lot of the practices with their mother and aunt. They're also Naomi's cousins, so this gives them a weekly opportunity to hang out together too.

An evening out with friends kept the practice comparatively short, so Rowen and I still had a group of fired up kids with us when we took them home. Grandma and Grandpa took Zack home with them for the night; and Rowen and I had the twins, Naomi, Aiden, Hailey, and Leah with us – though Hailey and Leah didn't stay here overnight. Naomi's brother, Eli, was spending the night with his Grandparents too; so Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne weren't the only parent in town having a kid-free night. As always, if you're using your imagination on that any time in my personal future; I don't want to know about it; so please don't tell me!

While Mom and Dad did a quick change before heading out to the pub; we played in the back yard for a while; and then moved indoors and up to the lounge when Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne collected them on their way over to Sheldon's. Ethan and Aiden played some video games; the girls wanted to have some music fun for a while; and then we got all of the kids ready for bed before letting them stay up late to watch a movie. Leah and Hailey were asleep within fifteen minutes; so we put them in my bed until they were picked up; but my brother, sister, and their friends were still awake and going strong by the time the show was over.

We still put them to bed after that; and while they were awake for a while; and probably goofing around with some Face Time between the two rooms with their iPads; they at least pretended to be asleep when Mom and Dad got home with the two pairs of volunteers who were taking Leah and Hailey to their homes for the night. Rowen wasn't spending the night either, so she went home then; and probably got there at about the same time as her parents did; since they'd gone to the Inn to help with the celebration too. She was welcome to stay, but I think she picked sleep over listening to me type on my computer for a few hours – which I've been doing since coming back up to my room a few hours ago.

I'm going to need to try and do a make-up work night even though I have my first baseball practice tomorrow too; so I should get started on my nap soon. There's rain in the forecast all day for Thursday too; but I'll keep my fingers crossed that we'll get a break around baseball time. The only down side we'll have for our practices this year is that we have the later practice slot; so Rowen and I will miss game nights at the Inn for the last handful of weeks we have left until they stop for the summer holidays.

Would anyone like to take a guess whether Michael and Tim will still do game night without us; or come to our practices instead? That's a tough choice for them; and could get them razzed by the other guys whichever way they go on it!

I'll let you know how that goes – if baseball is even on for us, but that's all I have for tonight; and I'm so out of here and off to dreamland.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Thursday, May 8, 2014

The rain did come today as forecast, but held off until after we were at school this morning; took a break that allowed us to have our baseball practice; and didn't get heavier until later this evening. I didn't entirely escape getting rained on, but Michael and I didn't mind getting a little damp on the way home from the park – or the play time while he helped me to get changed while we waited for Mom, Dad, and the twins to get home from the Inn.

When I was commenting on missing out on game night in my last journal report, I hadn't been thinking about the potential for alone time with Michael instead – mostly because I was expecting that we'd just head back to the Inn for post-baseball snacks and drinks. I guess we'll have to thank the rain – and Tim. He was definitely thinking about parent and brother-free time with Rowen; while getting rained on gave us a reason to skip a stop at the Inn – strictly to avoid getting teased about Michael, me, and rain! ;^)

After chatting with Rowen on our computers a while ago, I can report that there are now four teens who have discovered that you don't have to be at the Inn to have fun on game night. Since Michael's parents host the event, I doubt that we can come up with weekly excuses not to be there; but I also won't be at all surprised if Rowen and Tim start missing more game nights than they attend from now on – at least for as long as they can get away with it.

We did get enough rain during the day that we didn't want to be out on the main part of the ball diamond tonight; so we just practiced out on the grass instead. While we don't have super sports star Carolyn Landry on our team this year, I think that we do have a good mix of players. Rowen and I are catching up on height with most of the girls in Rebecca and Jenny's class – and have passed a few of them already. That makes it easier for us to compete than it is for Michael and Tim; though we are two of the better athletes anyway. While we had a pretty good first practice with Coach Claire and our friends; baseball wasn't really the main action at the park tonight.

I'm sure it's obvious that Michael and Tim opted to come to the park with us instead of going to game night; and they were the only guys there. Who could've guessed that girl-watching might be popular with teenage boys? Most of them would deny it, but all of the usual games they play were going on – and particularly obvious with the younger guys who were trying to impress Emma Norton and the other twelve-year old girls. Emma's still in Grade Six, so that's probably a bit scary for her mother, but if Emma is interested in any particular boy right now; she wasn't giving any hint of that tonight – or he wasn't there.

The most interesting part of the evening for me was having Emma's older brother, Lucas, there with them. He hung out with Michael, Tim, and a few of the older guys, and while he was being very careful about it; I had no problem seeing which girl he was most-interested in watching tonight. There are some advantages to photographic memories and superior math skills. A few surreptitious glances might actually be innocent – eighty-one of them in about an hour is a pattern. Add in the fact that Lucas, Michael, and Tim tossed a football around for nearly half of that time; and it's a wonder Lucas didn't miss a few catches – even though he managed to position himself with Michael and Tim between him and the target of his interest.

Now, should I mention names or save that news for a while – even though you'll be reading this in the future when the information won't be a surprise? Let's save it for now; since I have a feeling this particular story is going to develop fairly quickly now. Lucas is quiet, shy, and a lot like Michael, but he's also getting some attention from the girls now that he's hit his growth spurt – and particularly now that he hasn't been bundled up in cold or cool-weather clothes. He still hides a lot underneath baggy shirts and pants or long shorts; so I suspect that those girls are going to be particularly surprised this summer at how much he's changed in a year.

No, I don't have any inside information there – that conclusion is again due to my memory and math; and I can tell you that all of the farm work and weight training with Michael, Tim, and the other guys is really paying off for Lucas! While I'm going to keep some of what I know to myself for now, I will predict here that when Lucas does find his single social status changing; there are going to be a few girls kicking themselves for overlooking him – literally – for the past few years.

Our practice ended when it started raining again; and Michael and I walked home with Rebecca, Jenny, Rowen, and Tim. I've already covered the Michael and me time after that, and you don't need the details; so let's take up the story from when Mom and Dad got home from the Inn with the twins. We did a group Magi lesson with Michael, and then he needed to get home while Mom and I did bath time with Ethan and Ehlana and Dad started working in the office. We did the snack and story time after the bath with Dad; I took care of tucking my brother and sister in for the night; and then I hit the Jacuzzi for a nice long soak while multi-tasking my language studies. Rowen and I did our little chat then too; though she was probably sleeping before I got out of the tub and finished getting ready for bed. I started on my family business work after getting into bed with Mandy; and have been doing that for a couple of hours now.

That was mostly a continuation of the work I did after school – and after we finished our study session at the Inn. I had to miss out on helping out there during the dinner rush to do my own work instead; but I would have been up most of the night if I'd played at the Inn instead – and I didn't want to leave that work for this weekend. Dad and I already have enough on the go because Mom is getting the weekend off from work as part of her Mother's Day fun and entertainment.

Mom's weekend off starts on Friday afternoon sometime, and most of the other Moms in our family are going to be enjoying the same opportunity; so it's time for me to move on to nap time so that I'll be ready for that – and spending time with my family and friends at our dinner and a movie night. I've skipped over a lot of the action today, including Tai Chi and breakfast with bonus fun from Naomi and Aiden, and we had a pretty good day at school too despite the rain; but I'm tired out and have had enough fun for today without making it any longer than it already has been.

The rain has temporarily moved the summer-like weather out of the area for a day or two; but we're still supposed to have a nice, spring-weather weekend; so we should manage to have some outdoor fun – even for those of us who won't have the weekend off from work.

I'll keep you posted on how that goes, but that's it for tonight; so until next time...

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

Friday, May 9, 2014

"There was a time; When it was just the two of us; The tried and true of us; Me and my Mom..."

Sofia the First – Just Me and My Mom

I blame Disney, Ethan, and Ehlana for that song being stuck in my head tonight. We watched the Sofia the First Mother's Day episode tonight as part of our dinner and a movie entertainment, and while I think that the song is cute and catchy; it was having Ethan and Ehlana teasing me about Sofia's situation in the show being the same as mine that has me wandering down memory lane while singing along to the YouTube clip of the song tonight.

Yes, guys, my family grew by three too, though not all at once – unless you're counting from time of conception. I also felt like Dad gave me a 'princess' room too, and I think that everything else about our new family and home is amazing; which is why I never feel like I'm missing anything by sharing Mom with everyone else we love. In fact, I'm always glad that it isn't 'just me and my Mom' anymore. That doesn't mean that we didn't share a lot of special moments together during those years before we moved to Witch Falls; it just means that we're even happier now than we could have even dreamed possible back when we were on our own – and in hiding from the Hathornes.

Today was a pretty good example of that; since we had a lot of fun all day – including at school.

It was cooler this morning after the rain, but still nice enough to take our Tai Chi outdoors and exercise by the river. Michael stayed for a quick breakfast before rushing off to get ready for school and his morning weight training with the guys. It wasn't exactly a play day at school, but between having the younger kids spending extra time on Mother's Day crafts; seeing the High School seniors fired up about their trip next week; and everyone generally in a great mood ahead of the Mother's Day weekend, we had a really entertaining day. Tim would tell you that football at lunchtime and after school, and while I had fun with that too; it wasn't for the same reasons.

While the ground was drying fast today, it was still damp enough on the football field that the guys didn't have any luck recruiting any of the girls to play football with them during our lunch break; but they still had enough volunteers for a small scrimmage game. Rowen and I were more entertained by the off-field action with some of the other girls than we were with watching our boys play. Tim usually gets guys from Grade Seven through Ten to play, and with the recent change in social status for some teens and tweens; the sports action is attracting more than a little drama and non-football game playing.

The flirting and showing off was mostly restricted to the younger girls and guys instead of the high school teens; but those guys – including Lucas Norton – had their fans watching the game while chatting with their friends too. Add eighteen glances and three adorably shy smiles to the count from my latest baseball practice report, and while I'll leave it at that for now; I'm even more sure today that Lucas is in imminent danger of a change in social status.

I also seriously doubt that he'll have a problem with that!

Our weekend fun started almost immediately after school once we'd dropped off our gear at our homes; grabbed our bikes, trailer, and the twins; and headed out for some biking and play time at the park. Mom was officially off-duty for the weekend after that; though she still worked on her computer until Aunt Leanne came over after work before getting around to taking it easy and having fun with our family and friends. The bike ride included the usual construction site tour. The most obvious progress was with the new houses being raised and the medical center building; but at least as much actual work is going on at the almost-completed apartment building and inside at the lab. I'll do a full update on that after our next future plans meeting, but I can report that the apartments will be ready ahead of schedule; and while we still have a bit less than four months to go before the lab will open; a lot of the major work is done now; and it will be the details and finishing work – along with all of the equipment installations – going on between now and September.

While seeing our town grow right before our eyes is really cool, it's the doing stuff together that I really love; and we had fun cruising around town; playing or watching football when we first got to the park; and then running around at the playground. Ethan and Ehlana may have to pretend to be normal almost-three-year old kids for a lot of things; but there's no pretending involved when it comes to playing with their friends – or with their big sister and her friends. In a way, you can think of that as some adults might when it comes to wishing they could play and have fun like little kids do – and in this case; Ethan and Ehlana can get away with it while most grown-ups won't or can't let their inner kids out to play.

Just in case you're wondering, I am definitely not too grown up or cool to play in sandboxes or run around and be goofy with the younger kids – and hopefully, I never will be!

My first 'job' of the weekend was to entertain Ethan and Ehlana after school, and I followed that up with helping out with the dinner part of our dinner and a movie night. The guys and teens were responsible for doing that while the Moms and Moms-to-be were all officially on their weekend off by the time they arrived at our house. That didn't apply to every Mom in town by any means, since stores still needed to stay open and not every guy in town put as much effort into pampering their Moms as my family is doing this weekend; but the idea could catch on around here the same way the shopping trips to the city have.

Michael, Tim, and Rowen were all invited to spend the evening with us, and the four of us juggled watching the younger kids with setting up tables and chairs in the back yard for dinner and helping out in the kitchen with making side dishes. That wasn't really that tough, since the main meal entrées were being grilled and the guys had contributed Olde Bakery desserts and grocery store pre-made salads. WE also collectively kept our favorite women supplied with drinks and appetizers while they relaxed, chatted, and occasionally played with the younger kids; and basically had a blast for that few hours of food and fun. All teens were on the clean-up crew while younger kids and women were freed to go play at the park until it was time for movies; but that wasn't all that hard to deal with either – especially when men have a tendency to opt for disposable dinnerware at events like this.

I've already covered the start of the movie part of our evening with the Sofia the First show, and while that was great; it was a bit crowded with everyone in the living room – which is why I led the kids and teens up to the lounge after that and left the adults to watch something that didn't need to be toddler-rated for their feature presentation. We didn't end up choosing a movie at all upstairs because the boys talked us into letting them play video games instead. Rowen and I kept the younger girls entertained with some music fun in my room and some games, and while we joined in for some video gaming too; we mostly left Tim and Michael to keep the younger boys entertained.

All of that kept boyfriend cuddle time to a minimum, and Michael and I had zero alone time; including when it was time for goodnight hugs and kisses at a bit after eleven when the party broke up downstairs and everyone was ready to head off to their own homes. Maybe we'll get a chance to make up for that tomorrow night; but we'll see whether that works out for us or not.

Though that would have been a nice way to end the evening; I can't really complain when we've had such a really great day. Hopefully the rest of the weekend will be all of that and more – especially for all of my favorite Moms. I'd mention that Dad's helping Mom out with making that happen for her right now; but don't want to go there.

Please don't use your imagination; and pretend that I didn't write that last comment. ;^)

Mom and I did the bedtime routine with Ethan and Ehlana after our guests left while Dad took care of a bit of cleaning in the living room and kitchen before joining us for the bedtime story and getting the twins tucked in for the night. I moved on to a bit of Jacuzzi time after that; got ready for bed; and was cuddling with Mandy by twelve-thirty. I've managed to do my nightly computer checks and a bit of family business work while winding down, singing along with Sofia, and wandering down memory lane to visit favorite 'Mom and me' moments. It's already coming up on one-thirty now, and that doesn't even feel all that late compared to the rest of this week – though I am ready to catch more than a few hours of down time now.

Dad and I have work to do in the morning, but Mom's day off will include some pampering at the salon with my aunts and some of their friends. We're planning on some afternoon play time with the family tomorrow too; but the weather forecast is a bit mixed with potential rain issues; so we'll probably end up just winging that. As of right now, we're going to have a quiet evening on our own tomorrow night, which works for me if we can include some Michael and me time in there after he's finished for the day at the Inn. I wish that Miranda could have the weekend off, but she'd never do that on one of their busiest weekends – particularly if that meant having the other full-time Moms who work there putting in more time to make up for her missed hours.

Maybe Jacob will help her celebrate a belated Mother's Day on Monday while they're off work and the kids are at school. Let's just not take that thought any farther here, thank you very much.

I mean it – stop letting your imagination go there!

That isn't exactly the note I'd like to leave this update on, but there isn't really anything else to add tonight; so, until next time...

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

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Happy 14th Birthday, Nora!

I hope she's having a good day, and Rowen and I sent a gift along for her with one of our friends to give to her today; but we also weren't surprised when we weren't invited to her 'girls' day in the city' birthday adventure trip. We'll get the details on how that went tomorrow at Sunday school; so I'll let you know if there is anything newsworthy to pass on for posterity in our archives.

While my day probably wasn't as exciting as Nora's, and we had a bit of rain here and there this afternoon that cut back a bit on our outdoor fun; we've still managed to have one of those really good days. It was a bit on the chilly side for Tai Chi this morning, but we exercised by the river anyway; and then Michael and Dad cooked while Mom and I hit the showers before having breakfast together. Mom had her morning at the salon to get to after eating, so she went to meet up with Aunt Leanne, Aunt Grace, and Aunt Deborah while I led the clean-up crew of one while Ethan and Ehlana mostly just kept me company. Michael had needed to leave after we finished eating, and Dad took his turn getting ready for the day while I was doing that; and then we were able to head outside and get started on the yard work once Alicia came over and took charge of the twins.

We were doing a comparatively light yard work day, and had the lawn cut; gardens weeded; and the rest of the usual weekly chores finished by the time Mom got home again from the salon. We'd also managed some house cleaning and laundry with some help from Alicia; and started working on making lunch while Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana took it easy in the back yard. Alicia stayed for lunch and helped me with the clean-up; and we particularly had fun catching up on the latest news from the salon that Vicky, Liz, and the other women who were there this morning had to pass on to Mom, my aunts, and their friends.

Despite the risk of rain, we had a pretty big group of friends and family come over to spend the afternoon with us; starting with a canoe ride. We opted to head toward the falls so that we at least had options if we did get caught out in the rain; but we also weren't on the water when our play afternoon was interrupted as two separate thundershowers moved through town. We were on an Emporium ice cream run for the first one; and took shelter under the pavilion at the park for the second – though some of us ran around and got rained on anyway. Michael was with us for the ice cream and park play time while on his afternoon break from the Inn; but he went back there when we were ready to paddle home again. Rowen and Tim were along for the entire afternoon adventure, but they moved on too shortly after Tim helped the rest of the guys with putting canoes and gear away in the storage barn. Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, Zack, Uncle Mark, and Aunt Grace stayed for a little chat and drinks once that work was done, but everyone else had other plans for dinner and the evening to get on with; and Mom and Dad just had their three kids at home with them by five-thirty or so.

I helped Dad with throwing together an easy-dinner, though that decision had more to do with knowing we'd be eating a lot tomorrow than because we wanted to minimize the work and clean-up. Our dinner conversation was interesting because Ethan and Ehlana spent a lot of that time talking about their college courses – and joking about being at the same level as Violet, Dillon, and the rest of our favorite college freshmen. Technically, they won't be there until sometime in mid-June; but that is funny – particularly when Ehlana and Dillon are taking a lot of the same classes as he works toward his bio-engineering degree goals.

My brother and sister are also getting excited about getting to spend time at the lab soon; though they won't actually be able to do much until at least one lab is completely set up – and even then it'll be tough with so many people working there all day. They're already talking about going there on the weekends when the work crews will be off; but Mom isn't all that enthusiastic about that idea; and we'll likely be too busy most weekends this summer to do that anyway.

After Dad and I finished cleaning up, we stayed close to home – playing outside for a while when it wasn't raining; and then taking it easy and watching some television in the living room after that. Michael came over in time to join us for bedtime snacks and stories with Ethan and Ehlana; we tucked them in for the night; and then came up to the lounge to watch a movie while Dad did some work in the office and Mom opted for a good book and some Jacuzzi time. I'm sure that Michael and I had more fun than anyone else in the house during that couple of quiet hours together, but then I'm also sure that Mom or Dad will point out that their night wasn't over yet when they read this someday.

Yeah, let's not go there; shall we?

While I'm trying not to think about that, though, I do want to mention that I don't have a problem with my parents' sex life. That topic is generally off-limits with kids and teens, but I certainly don't plan on having that part of my life end once I have kids, teens, or hit any certain age limit. For anyone reading this who might be thinking biology and life will dictate that for me; I'd like to just remind those doubters that a Magi Master with the ability to heal doesn't really have to worry about that kind of thing – at all.

Oh, and on the off-chance you're suddenly getting jealous; let me also remind you that we have a doctor in town with the Healing talent – though going to see him for something like that will probably be very weird for you. Yes, Mom, Ethan, Ehlana, and I could all deal with those kind of issues too; but that would be even stranger for you and any one of us; so feel free not to go there. This is one area of medicine that I'm more than happy to leave to the professionals!

That's gone way off topic, and here I am ending another journal entry on a very odd note. I want to get some sleep and be fully charged for Mother's Day, though; so let's just leave it there; call it a night; and I'll try my very best not to take those last thoughts into dreamland with me.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Happy Mother's Day to all of my favorite Moms!

It's been a whirlwind blast of fun and work today, and while spending time with my family and our friends was really great; I have a special batch of memories now for my first time sharing Mother's Day with Michael's Mom – and having him share parts of the day with mine – starting with morning Tai Chi by the river.

That was a nice, quiet, and sweet start to the day for us; though I guess that came after a fairly exciting and entertaining Mother's Day wake-up call for Mom and Dad that included having Mom open her gifts from Dad, Ethan, Ehlana, and me in bed before we met up with Michael and headed outside. Michael and I had a joint gift for Mom that we gave her once he was there too; and he earned bonus points from both Mom and me for giving her potted flowers too. The whirlwind of action kicked up immediately after Tai Chi because I needed to hit the shower and get ready for church before rushing over to Michael's house to meet up with him again and have a special Mother's Day breakfast with his family.

Dad made a special breakfast for Mom, and I'm sure it was great too; but Jacob went all out with his gourmet morning meal today. Since that was also the only time we had to actually celebrate Mother's Day with Miranda; the hour and a half we spent together before needing to clean up and head over to the church was really awesome and special too. Miranda got to open all of her gifts while we had breakfast because Rebecca and Michael don't seem to feel the need to wake their parents up with bed bounces, hugs, and kisses like Ethan, Ehlana, and I do with ours. I could play it cool and pretend that I only do that for my brother and sister; but I'd probably still be doing that anyway even if they weren't around!

That was all fun, and Miranda was as happy as my Mom when we met up again with them at the church. We aren't quite done with this round of rain, and though it didn't get in the way of Tai Chi this morning; we'd needed to drive to the church instead of walking there in the light rain showers. Pastor John had a short service Mother's Day surprise for the women of his congregation, and that was entertaining for everyone; but for some reason, it wasn't taken quite the same way as Pastor Martha's Father's Day version of the mini-sermon gift she's given the men in town every year for decades now.

I thought it was an awesome idea; and a really nice new tradition that Pastor Lewis might wish he'd come up with first to go along with the annual carnations and other special recognitions for our favorite mothers.

Before I move on to the rest of the report, let's go off-topic for a moment and I'll give you the birthday fun news from Nora's big trip to the city yesterday. First up, while it isn't completely unheard of here in Witch Falls; Nora's 'big' birthday gift of a Smartphone was the top story there; since there really aren't that many teens around here under the age of sixteen who have a phone. I know, that's crazy to most teens just about anywhere else, but until teens start driving around here; cell phones just aren't that big of a deal – not to mention that with WiFi available all around town, an iPod can keep you connected with home just as easily as a phone and without the monthly charges.

Okay, I'll stop there, since Nora is thrilled; and my opinion on the need for phones at our age is definitely in the minority – even if most of my classmates and friends will not have much luck convincing their parents of that for at least another year or two. While getting her phone was at the top of her birthday fun list; it sounds like Nora, Vanessa, and the other girls had a great day too. They went shopping; had a couple of fast food meals; and went to the movies after dinner. There was apparently some minor flirting with some 'hot, older city boys' too; and Nora was almost as proud of the new messaging contacts from two of those boys as she is about the phone.

Finally, while we're not on the way to being buddies anytime soon, Nora did really like the gift that Rowen and I picked out for her; and took a moment to thank us on our way into Sunday school class. I should mention that there was a reason why Rowen and I didn't do a joint gift for her with Michael and Tim, and while I'm not sure whether that little detail made a difference with how Nora feels about us; there wasn't any teen drama today, and it might have been weird for all of us if Tim had been in on getting a gift for his ex-girlfriend. Maybe we'll see if that feels less awkward next year; since we have mostly been doing joint birthday gifts now for the rest of our friends – and they seem to appreciate getting one nicer gift instead of four smaller presents.

Getting back to the Mother's Day action, it was still raining after church, but was clearing up; so we went ahead with our barbeque and picnic at the park plans. I went home with Mom, Dad, and the twins after saying goodbye to Michael and his parents and sister at the church when they left for the Inn. Once we'd all gotten changed into play clothes, it was time to rush around again as we put our picnic together and loaded up the truck with our picnic gear, supplies, and some chairs and game gear – like gloves, balls, bats, and Frisbees. Ethan, Ehlana, and I walked over to the park once we were ready to go so that Mom and Dad could stop in at Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne's house to pick up them up, along with Zack and their contributions to the picnic. Mother's Day picnics in the park aren't exactly becoming an annual event or anything; but there are still a lot of families choosing to go there for picnics and play time, and while we had the largest group; there were probably close to two hundred people there at the busiest.

The Mothers were off-duty for anything other than playing with their kids; so I was on work detail in the pavilion with Rowen and some of the other teens while most of the fathers and grandfathers were working grills or supervising the cooking. Setting out stacks of paper plates and plastic utensils along with bowls and platters of salads, buns, and condiments wasn't hard to handle; and we still had time to play in between that work and the post-picnic clean-up. There was so much going on that I'd need a day to write about all of it, so let's just lump it all together and call it one of those really great play afternoons. I'll also skip writing about how much time I actually managed to spend with Mom on Mother's Day because that'll just have the 'Just Me and My Mom' song running through my head again tonight – though I was just as busy as she was today and we were both being pulled in different directions by our family and friends.

Some more gifts were exchanged at lunchtime too; since that was our first chance to do that with grandparents, aunts, and other favorite mothers. Play time included general playground action, some baseball and football, and what seemed like everything else from trackball and Frisbee to volleyball and croquet. Tim had come with Rowen, and while his parents had been doing lunch at his aunt and uncle's house; they came over to the park for a couple of hours in the afternoon – and were going to the same buffet at the Inn that we went to for dinner.

Michael had a shorter-than-usual afternoon break because they were running three buffets at the Inn today; but he spent that time with Rowen, Tim, and me at the park. I didn't go back to the Inn with him when his break was over, but I did join him there and help out after giving Dad a hand getting all of our gear back to the house when it was time to head home again. I was at the Inn in time to help with getting the second wave of food for the second buffet ready and out to the dining room; and I stayed and played with Michael and Rebecca until the first wave of food went out for the last buffet; when the three of us were allowed to go and have dinner with my family. That was another blast of fun, though we also only stayed in the dining room for three-quarters of an hour before heading back to the kitchen to mostly help out with the major clean-up that had really been ongoing all afternoon.

While Miranda had to work hard all afternoon and evening, we all tried our best to help all of the Moms on duty have fun too; so we were a pretty happy – and tired – group by the time Michael, Rebecca, and I were set free to head home. Michael was tied enough that we only stayed together for a little front porch cuddle time and a chat with Rebecca at their house before they went inside for the night and I moved on to my place.

Mom, Dad, and the twins had been enjoying another quiet evening, so I had another chat with them in the living room before we were all ready to head up to bed. After two big meals, we skipped the bedtime snack; took care of the story in Ehlana's room; and then I spent a few minutes each with Ethan and Ehlana while tucking them in for the night before coming up to my room and moving on to some Jacuzzi time that I really needed after a play afternoon and a few hours of work in a hot kitchen.

I'm going to skip the study and work report, since there isn't much to write about with that anyway. I had a batch of email to catch up on tonight, and the main fun there was from my favorite collegians. They're busy with exams and studying; but they're also all getting as excited as I am that they'll all be home by sometime next weekend – depending on whether they're leaving on Friday night, Saturday, or Sunday – and whether they're coming straight to Witch Falls or going to other homes first.

Between now and then, things will seem quieter at school with the Grade Twelve class gone on their trip – which is a bigger deal when it means a quarter of the high school students aren't there. Our second week of baseball will keep me busy for three nights, plus we'll have Uncle Mark's birthday to celebrate on Wednesday – a first for him with us – and Aunt Grace. I'm also going to try and do more family business work this week so that I can do less next week and help Mom more with getting ready for the holiday weekend. That's one of the reasons why I'm just getting to this and it's past three o'clock – and why I'm pretty much ready to crash now. I need something Mother's Day-ish to end this report on, though, so let's go with a repeat YouTube link to my favorite song of the weekend – one that Ethan and Ehlana kept singing to me off and on today with 'special' lyrics just for Mom and me.

Once again, I hope all Moms had a really happy, special day today!

Sofia the First – Just Me and My Mom

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Monday, May 12, 2014

We've had another on-and-off-again rain day that really only ended up affecting our after-school activities while letting us go ahead with Tai Chi by the river this morning and Michael and Tim's baseball practice after dinner. Our luck for that is bound to run out eventually; but we'll take it while it lasts. Farmers around here are starting to get a bit concerned about all of the rain now that they want to be working the fields every day and need to deal with continual weather-related problems or delays; so I hope we do get some stretches of better weather once we get through this next dip back into wetter, cooler days.

Though Kyle and the rest of his classmates were off on their trip early this morning, Michael, Tim, and some of the other guys still had their morning weight training workout this morning. Tim was one of the guys to push for that instead of taking the week off; and he didn't have a problem telling Michael, Rowen, and me what he thought about the guys who are skipping out this week without having Kyle there to motivate them. He and Michael were out playing football at lunchtime too, and had a pretty good turnout; though that was probably more because of the impending rain that kept guys off the field after school than anything else.

I don't have any news from school worth mentioning, and other than getting rained on when we went home to study at my place after school; we pretty much just had a standard study and snack break in the lounge until it was time for Michael and I to get to his place for dinner. We got rained on a bit then too, but then it stopped shortly after we sat down to eat; and stayed dry for a couple of hours and change. Rowen and Tim had done dinner together at his house this week, so they met us at the school ball diamond; and Rowen and I sat it the two bag chairs I'd brought along so we wouldn't have to sit on damp bleachers. We didn't have any other plans tonight, but I don't think that we'll be sitting around for many of these Monday night practices for the rest of the season. There weren't very many people around the school tonight other than the players and coaches; and the only kids to venture out to the playground left almost immediately after finding everything to wet to be fun for playing on or with.

A damp field didn't make the baseball practice all that much fun for the guys either, and the drop in temperature that came with the rain had all of us feeling a bit chilly by the time we could head home again. The four of us went to hang out at Michael's house; though Rowen and Tim did a quick run around to each of their houses so that Tim could get changed out of wet shoes and pants and they could both grab their instruments so we could do a practice for music class tomorrow. That last-minute plan meant that Michael and I were out of luck for having any alone time tonight; but the music and time with our best friends wasn't a bad trade-off. Practicing with just the trumpet, saxophone, and flute parts of our music sometimes sounds a bit odd; but we always manage to both make some progress with our playing skills and keep ourselves entertained. Tim might not be the most enthusiastic musician in our class, but he can play his trumpet well-enough; and even manages to get pretty good marks in the subject too.

After our practice, we hung out in the living room with Jacob, Miranda, and Rebecca for a while; and then Rowen, Tim, and I took advantage of a short lull in the rain that had resumed before we'd all gotten to Michael's house. I barely got damp at all with the sprinkles still falling, and Rowen was mostly dry too; but I doubt that Tim made it home before it had started raining harder; so he likely got fairly wet. I guess that's just the price you pay for being too cool for umbrellas.

Ethan and Ehlana had waited up for me and worked later than usual on their college assignments while Mom and Dad were busy working in the office too. We did a snack break and mostly just had a nice chat instead of doing a bedtime story. Mom opted for a joint Magi lesson then too; and once we were finished with that; I took care of getting my brother and sister tucked in for the night before coming up to my room. Once I was changed and in bed with Mandy; it was time to get started on the pile of work waiting for me. My self-imposed time limit tonight was two-thirty for the work and language studying and then to be asleep before three. I'm running out of time for that, so let's wrap this up.

Our favorite collegians are sounding relatively happy about exams today in their email updates; and we're all counting down the days until they'll be coming home. There were some messages flying around today about the Memorial Day weekend, and while we aren't going to have everyone from our collective families home this year; we will have the Proctor-Rice clan here; and Aunt Deborah's half of the Johnson family. The McEwans will be away, and have Christina and Josiah with them; while the other half of the Johnson family will be spending the holiday with the other sides of their family too. Now that Aunt Grace and Uncle Mark are living here, we collectively have lots of room for incoming guests; and our house might not even be party central this year when doing the parties in the connected back yards for the Carringtons and Everetts will give us enough room for everyone in our families and the usual visits from friends and other, more distant cousins.

We still have a week and four days to go to the holiday weekend, though; so I can write more about those plans next week instead of cutting into any more sleep time now. I can still, hopefully, be in slumber land before three too; so, until next time...

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

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Let's go with a micro-update tonight.

We didn't get any rain today, but it was a very chilly morning for Tai Chi; and we needed to bundle up for that – and it was back to sweaters and jackets for the rest of the day too.

There isn't anything major to report from school; band practice was a bit quiet with the senior class members away; and our study session at the computer store was short and easy. Michael was at my house tonight for dinner and the evening, and while we had fun; I'm too tired to get into any details – even for the hour of alone time we got to have after Ethan and Ehlana went to bed. I wouldn't have skipped that time for an extra hour of sleep tonight, but it was tougher to concentrate on my studies and work tonight than usual; and I really am just ready to crash for a while, so until next time...

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

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Happy 30th Birthday, Uncle Mark!

Let's call this a repeat of last Wednesday; except we had a birthday dinner at the Inn instead of for an anniversary. The school day; baseball practice; babysitting while the adults were at the pub; and my late work and study night were all pretty much the same. It was colder this week, and we had a few spits of rain here and there; but that didn't really affect the fun level at all.

It's closer to four than three now; I'm beat; and heading off to sleep now, so, until next time...

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

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Rowen and I might not be going to many more of Michael and Tim's baseball practices on Monday, but it looks as though they're going to keep coming to ours. I'm sure that getting out of work at the Inn a bit early for Michael has something to do with that; but the main reason I think they'll be there is because it's turning out to be another football opportunity for them.

Ditto that for Lucas Norton, and he might even be getting out of some work at the farm; but football is definitely not his top reason for coming to town with his mother and sister. After tonight, I'd say it's also becoming more obvious to more people than just me why he's there – or more specifically; whom he's there to see. Since that's quite possibly already a news flash heading up the gossip network charts now; I can report that Rebecca is the girl that Lucas is so interested in – and finally is pushing far enough past the shy to talk to her.

Okay, it's not as though he's never talked to Rebecca, and they did have that midnight kiss moment on New Year's Eve that so surprised both of them; but it was definitely different for them tonight – and I wasn't the only girl there who thought that Lucas was adorably sweet as he joined Michael and Tim after our practice and we all talked together until his mother and sister were ready to head home. It could take Lucas a year or two to get up the courage to ask Rebecca out; so I'm thinking about dusting off my junior matchmaker badge and helping them out with that little problem. I'll talk with Rebecca about that sometime soon; and maybe we can set something up for the holiday weekend.

Yes, we're all going to be busy; but I don't have a problem with adding in a little matchmaking fun to the schedule!

While that little scene at the park would seem inconsequential to most people, it was actually the most important event of the day for me; which anyone reading this in my future who knows all of us will understand. That would probably make most of my friends and neighbors laugh to hear, particularly if any of them knew about my 'real' studies and part-time job; and understood that I was making that statement when my day included working on projects worth a total of about sixty million dollars over the past couple of hours. I'm not suggesting that my work isn't more important, and it certainly affects a lot of people; but that isn't the same as those things that impact your life personally – and sometimes it's the little moments that make a big difference.

Just as an aside, that's why attempting to use the Sight on a micro level is so impossible. You 'see' all of the possibilities; and little, seemingly inconsequential choices – like getting up the courage to talk to a girl you like, or not doing that – can be the most important event; yet there's no way to know that unless you tried to track every possible future from each decision point in a person's life. Even for a Magi Master with perfect memory; that's basically an impossible task.

That probably sounds inconsistent compared to some of my writings about what Ethan, Ehlana, and I know about our collective future, but it isn't. We've been permitted to see some of the things that are meant to happen; and though I haven't mentioned this before – we also know about quite a few things that aren't going to happen too. The operative words there are 'supposed to'; so that still leaves open the potential for choices to change what will happen.

Let's all just hope that any bad choices aren't made at particularly bad moments that could become future game-changers.

Let's not get any deeper into those kinds of thoughts tonight; and get back to the daily update.

The cooler, damp weather continued today, and we even stayed indoors for Tai Chi this morning. I'll be okay with a change back to summer weather anytime now; but that's only because it's tough switching back to cold than it is going the other way. There is the advantage of wearing cuddly sweaters; but then Michael and I haven't exactly been getting many cuddle time opportunities. I'm also fairly sure that our boyfriends are going to appreciate seeing Rowen and me in swimsuits this summer even more than last year; but let's wait to go there until it's actually warm enough for swimming in the river or at Quarry Lake.

I haven't heard much from the seniors on their trip, but there are other teens and siblings passing on news; and the verdict is still out on how successful their adventures have been – mostly because of the inconsistent weather. They've been getting more rain than we have here too; but at least they could juggle their itinerary the same way we did in Washington; and spend a nicer day at Cedar Point instead of getting rained out. I get wanting to go to one of the coolest amusement parks in the country; but with all of the great options available; I sure hope that when it's our turn; we pick someplace a bit more exciting – no offense meant to anyone from Ohio. I can also report that there isn't any major teen drama going on among our Grade Twelve friends – mostly because most of the couples will likely be together for life now; and the few singles haven't met their match yet. They'll be heading home again in the morning; so hopefully their last play day was fun today despite the rain.

While we didn't get much rain, I wasn't spending much time outdoors anyway – except for during baseball practice. It was a fairly quiet day at school; Michael, Rowen, Tim, and I studied at the Inn after school; and then I went home to do some extra family business work that I needed to catch up on after missing my usual Wednesday night work due to the birthday party and babysitting. I worked until dinner was ready; we had a quick dinner; and I helped with the clean-up before heading over to the park. Our practice was pretty good on the baseball side; and I've already covered my favorite news from the evening.

Michael and I stopped at his house with Rowen and Tim for a snack break and drinks; but I opted to get home after that instead of doing anything that would make for an even later night once I could finally get to my work and language studies. That helped a bit, but it was still after eleven by the time I'd done the bedtime routine with Ethan and Ehlana; had my Magi lesson with Mom; and visited with Mom and Dad in the office before we all came up to bed for the night.

The good news is that I'm ready to take the weekend off and help out more next week with getting ready for incoming holiday weekend guests; and the trade-off is that I only have enough time for a nap before it'll be time to get up and going again – and I'm exhausted again. I am going to get some extra sleep this weekend, though; so I'll catch up on the lost down time eventually. For now, though, that's all I have; so, until next time...

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

Friday, May 16, 2014

Happy 1st Birthday, Rebekkah!

I'm sure that she's having a good day; but my motivation for starting this update with that news is because my aunts, uncles, and cousins were at her party tonight instead of doing dinner and a movie night with us this week. Zack and Leah were there – with their parents – for Rebekkah; while Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace were there for their friends, Pastor John and Stacey. There's a good chance that I'll eventually be more involved with Zack's and Leah's friends once they're all a bit older; but that won't be until they're all a bit more mobile.

None of our favorite college teens are home yet tonight, but they are all finished exams now; and will be getting home tomorrow or Sunday. There have been some incoming teens here, but they were either finished exams earlier; or at comparatively nearby colleges. Violet, Dillon, Jake, and Stephanie will be here tomorrow afternoon or evening; and Christina and Josiah will be home on Sunday after stopping in at her house on the way home. Yes, I'm making that distinction intentionally; and Christina would agree that Witch Falls is already home for her now.

It wasn't that long ago that we would have been thrilled with a spring day like we had today, and it was nice enough that we were able to be outside and playing when we wanted; but I'm again wishing for warmer temperatures. They are on the way according to the forecast; but we'll still have another day or two of spring before getting back to more summer-like temperatures next week. I'll be a happy camper if that carries through the holiday weekend!

Cool was more like cold first thing this morning, so we stayed indoors for Tai Chi again. Michael stayed for a quick breakfast before moving on to his weight training with Tim and the other guys. I was ready to go to school early enough that I even had time for a little chat with Rowen and her parents while she finished having breakfast; and then we were off and running for the day. There isn't really anything to report from school today, and though the senior class is home tonight; I haven't actually talked with any of them tonight to pass on any first-hand stories from their trip. I'll see Alicia tomorrow, though; so if there's anything interesting to write about I'll add that to my next update.

That does remind me that we'll be losing another babysitter to college this summer – and Mom will lose her part-time helper too. It isn't as though I've forgotten that; but more like I'm staying in denial until I have to face the fact that I strongly resemble the person that Mom will be replacing Alicia with this year instead of looking elsewhere for help around the house and with Ethan and Ehlana. Let's just put those thoughts away again until I have to deal with it by mid-August.

Since we weren't having a dinner and a movie night, Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I were free to make our own plans – particularly since Dad decided to work tonight to get ready for his week in the city because he won't have time to do that tomorrow. Rowen and I decided to do a sleepover; Mom approved a pizza, wings, and potato wedges dinner for all of us; and we opted for a play, video gaming, and movie night that started with some biking and park time once we were set free from school for the weekend. We took Ethan and Ehlana along for that; started with the usual construction site tour; and the park time included some football and a lot of running around at the playground before we needed to head home again in time for dinner.

It was cooling off again early, so we spent most of the evening indoors except for an after-dinner walk. Ethan and Ehlana were with us for the video gaming in the lounge after that; and then we had a break while they got ready for bed and we did story and snack time in the office with Mom and Dad. Michael and I took care of getting my brother and sister tucked in for the night too, and Tim and Rowen were happy with that; since it gave them some alone time in the lounge while they forgot all about picking out a movie for us to watch once Michael and I caught up with them again.

That last couple of hours of cuddle time with Michael was my favorite part of the day, and we had fun chatting with Rowen and Tim while they cuddled too; though the sci-fi action flick was definitely B-grade and forgettable – at least for those of us who don't have photographic memories. Michael and Tim needed to head home shortly before midnight, so we did the usual split-up that was all about getting a few minutes of privacy for goodnight hugs and kisses and nothing to do with cleaning up from our drinks and snacks. Rowen and I took care of that after the boys had left; starting with washing glasses and bowls in the kitchen, and ending with a once-through of the lounge.

Mom and Dad had already gone to bed before Michael and Tim had left; so we just got changed and into bed with Mandy and our computers. As usual, Rowen has been happily surfing YouTube for the musical or strange while we've been having a nice long girl chat and I've been doing my usual nightly computer checks. My email volume should drop a bit now that my favorite college teens are on the way home for the summer, and other than a couple of business-related email I needed to take care of; my usual checks didn't take long to get through tonight.

Rowen's going to be working at the computer store in the morning, and I have a full yard work day that's going to include helping out with building a new dock in the afternoon. It's still going to be on the cool side tomorrow, which will make it very cold in the river when it's time to take the old dock out and put the new one in; but we want to have it done in time for the holiday weekend if that's at all possible. That's why I'm going to wrap this up and put my computer away; though we'll probably watch some more videos on Rowen's computer before getting around to the sleep part of our sleepover.

We've had a pretty good start to the weekend tonight, and though we have a lot of work to get done tomorrow; I think we'll still manage to keep the fun going. With a little luck; I might even get to have a little alone time with Michael too!

I think I'll spend some time dreaming about that tonight; so, until next time...

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

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Aunt Leanne would be telling me right about now that I am way too much like my parents – not because I'm awake and writing this in the wee hours of the morning; but because I managed to fall asleep again tonight instead of taking advantage of the Michael and me alone time we could have had after we tucked Ethan and Ehlana in for the night. Unfortunately, a lot of long days combined with a really busy work day that included helping to build and install a new dock had me off in nap mode within minutes of cuddling with Michael in the lounge.

Michael probably stayed with me until he needed to head home, but didn't wake me; which is why I was still on the sectional sofa when I woke up a while ago. He managed to trade his lap for a pillow and tuck a warm blanket around me without waking me; though I won't be surprised if Mom or Dad gave him a little help with that. It's a good thing that Michael loves me, but since we don't get that many alone time opportunities each week; I have seriously got to work on my priorities a bit and avoid these unplanned and badly timed naps!

That news was hardly the top story of the day, and though we didn't get to spend much time with them yet; Violet and Dillon got home this afternoon, and Jake and Stephanie got back early this evening. Violet and Dillon dropped off all of her luggage and hauled it up to her room, and they had a short visit with us while we were working on the dock; but then they spent the rest of the day with his family. Violet's staying there tonight too; so we won't get to catch up with her until tomorrow afternoon. That's pretty much the same story for Jake and Stephanie; except they were at her house for the evening, but are spending the night at his so that they can have breakfast with his parents, brother, sister, and me in the morning.

The not seeing them much – barely long enough for a "Hi, we're home; gotta run" for Jake and Stephanie – wasn't as exciting a homecoming with us as I'd hoped it would be. I'll just need to get used to sharing Violet with Dillon, his family, and their friends even more as they get older, and while it isn't as though I spent a lot of time with Jake and Stephanie; I have hoped that Michael and I will get to do that more this summer. Hopefully we'll get started on that in the morning – and tomorrow afternoon and evening with Violet and Dillon.

I'm sure that Violet and Dillon had more fun at his house this afternoon anyway; since we were right in the thick of it with our dock building adventure; and the last thing they were interested in after a week of exams, packing up, and a long drive was more work today. Other than Tai Chi, three meals, and a snack and drinks break here and there; it was all work, all the time for Mom, Dad, and me until the last bolts were tightened and the dock was installed at around seven-thirty. I spent the entire morning doing yard work, and while Dad helped out with part of that; he also moved on to do a run for lumber and everything else we needed for building the dock. Mowing the lawn, weeding gardens, and the rest of the usual chores don't need extra digital ink devoted to them; so let's get to the main job of the day – the new dock.

The first thing I'd like to say about it is that Grandpa designed a very cool, nearly-permanent base for our dock. I haven't mentioned it in my journal before, and take it for granted every time I'm using the dock; but we all really appreciated it today when it made our job of replacing the top sections of the dock so much easier. We've appreciated his geologist and engineering expertise while he's been travelling for our family business, so creating and building a fairly complex metal and concrete foundation for a dock isn't exactly world-changing by comparison to that; but I still thought that it was cool to learn all about it today while working on the new dock.

Not as cool as the water was when some of us needed to get in while taking out the old dock and later installing the new one; but I'll get to that in a minute.

First of all, Dad had help from all of my uncles this afternoon and supervisory support from Grandpa now and then too. Uncle Adam went with Dad for the supply run, and Aunt Leanne and Zack came over to hang out with Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana while they were busy – and helped when it was time to make lunch. That meal break was short and sweet for me because I finished my yard work first and only had time to chow down on a burger and some salads before joining the work crew on the dock. This might be shocking to some of you, but a lawyer, doctors, and a school teacher can actually manage to build a dock without any major problems – or the medical training of the physicians!

Okay, there may have been some Magi Healing offered to all of them because of strained muscles and minor scrapes and blisters; but you know what I meant.

The stories about previous dock-building days helped to keep me entertained, and while some of the work was fairly strenuous; we all had fun this afternoon. Modern tools, like high-powered rechargeable drills, made parts of the job much easier than in the past; though I'm fairly sure that Grandpa was exaggerating about using dinosaurs to knock down trees and haul them to the river back in the 'old days'. His plans for the original dock did come in handy, though; and so did the old table saw that made quick work of cutting all of the pressure-treated lumber.

I'm not going to bore you with every detail, but there are a few things that I do want to include – starting with the river swim and work parts of the afternoon and evening. I would like to mention for the record that I am not nuts to volunteer to be one of the workers that needed to be in the river to help with the old and new docks. I have one little advantage – being able to regulate my body temperature automatically. Yes, the water was still really cold; but I can stay in it longer than anyone without worrying about hypothermia. My next comment is not meant to imply that Dad in any way intentionally timed the first swim for anyone's benefit; and I don't think that it was fair to be teased about being wet and in a swimsuit for most of the time that Michael was there helping out with the work during his afternoon break from the Inn.

Yes, he was happy to see me in a swimsuit sooner than he'd expected; but I didn't hear anyone making those kinds of jokes about the other river-swim volunteers. Tim and Rowen came over while Michael was there too, and while Tim made some jokes and suggestions about it; Rowen did not go and get a swimsuit on and come play in the water with me too. Tim may have been disappointed about that, but then I'll also guess that his girlfriend didn't fall asleep on him tonight when they were hanging out together at Rowen's house; so he might be a happier camper than Michael is right now.

Getting the old dock off of the metal posts and out of the river was tougher than dropping the new one into the water. I may have gotten teased a lot about Michael and swimsuits; but there weren't any jokes about my ability to do the actual work. We could have done that end of the work in minutes with a little applied telekinesis, but since that wasn't an option; being a strong swimmer with exceptional applied physics skills was worth a lot when it came to getting the job done. Being small enough to easily get into the right places for undoing bolts was handy too; and four of us managed to get the old dock out of the river and partially taken apart in about an hour.

I certainly didn't mind having a little break and some cuddle time with Michael after that first swim while bundled in a warm, thick beach towel. That was too-short; but we still had a lot of work to do that included some minor clean-up and maintenance for the dock framing while it was exposed and accessible. We still got a bit wet for that too; but did that work from canoes instead of swimming – or from the riverbank where possible. I helped with that, and took a couple of turns screwing the deck boards down onto the dock frame. We had the new dock ready to install by six; and opted to keep working and eat late instead of stopping – mostly because the water was just going to at least feel colder as we lost the sunshine.

As I mentioned, that part of the job was easier; though it still took time to get the dock onto the posts and bolt the sections together – and to the posts. There are floats involved in the system, but the river level doesn't change so much that the dock needs to be adjusted very often. Dad does that a handful of times a year, but that's mostly in the spring and fall; and is literally a matter of loosening and re-tightening the bolts on the posts. That's just another one of those things that I take for granted around here; and don't really think about at all. I will likely think more about it this summer after being part of the work crew today; but I think most people are like that with things that they've been part of building or creating. I wouldn't say that this felt as special as when Michael and I sing and play music together; but it was pretty special to share this with Dad, Mom, and my uncles, aunts, and friends.

I was set free after getting out of the river to warm up and get changed while Dad led the clean-up crew and Grandpa was in charge of the grill. The work was done and we sat down to eat at seven-thirty. We ate in the back yard – or the adults did while Ethan, Ehlana, and I took our plates and drinks out to the dock and ate there. Now that we can compare the old to the new; Dad got three thumbs up for the decision to replace it this year. The new dock is much nicer to walk and sit on with the fresh, un-weathered wood. There was some more teasing directed my way when I went back for seconds and doubled up on dessert after that. I burned a lot of calories today, and even my own family sometimes seems to forget that I have a hyper-metabolism; so today was just one of those times when I needed to eat quite a bit more than usual.

Moving along, our gang of helpers and visitors headed out for home by nine o'clock after we finished eating and cleaning up from the meal. Michael came over by eight-thirty, so other than helping with hauling plates and dishes into the kitchen; I didn't have to work on the clean-up crew either. We were instead put in charge of getting Ethan and Ehlana ready for bed and having a bit of play time with them before and after doing a round of goodbye hugs and kisses with our family. I took a quick shower while Michael played video games with the twins in the lounge because I really needed one by then; and joined in for the gaming fun until we tucked my brother and sister in for the night at ten.

Dad had hit the showers too before he and Mom both went to work in the office, so I haven't seen them since stopping in with Ethan and Ehlana for bedtime hugs and kisses. I'd tell you more about my alone time with Michael than I have so far; except that I don't remember anything after the point where we got comfortable on the sectional sofa; picked out a movie; and shared a couple of long, soft kisses. I closed my eyes for what I thought was going to be a minute; and that's all I've got for the rest of my evening. I know that I needed the down time, but my timing really does suck; since Michael and I probably won't get any significant alone time until at least sometime after the long weekend – we both have too much to do between school, work, and holiday fun; and we'll both have houses full of family on the weekend. I wonder if our parents would have a problem with suggesting that they give us a family-free night? We do kid-free nights for them, so it only seems fair; but they probably won't see it that way.

Since I've slept through what could have been the highlight of the day for me anyway, I might as well wrap this up and get back to sleep now. I really only fired up my computer after getting changed and into bed with Mandy to do my usual nightly computer checks anyway, and even though there won't be any Michael and me time to look forward to on Sunday; I do want to be ready for some fun with our favorite college teens. Dad will need to work most of the afternoon and evening to get ready for his week in the city; but I'm mostly taking the day off from work – except for helping Mom with meals. Hopefully that'll give me time to play with Ethan, Ehlana, and our friends as well as getting to hang out with Violet and Dillon. We may get to have some time with Christina and Josiah; but that'll depend on what he has going on with his family when they get here sometime tomorrow.

Okay, it's really time to stop and get back to dreamland. At least there's one place that I don't usually fall asleep when Michael and I have play time opportunities! ;^)

Until next time...

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

Sunday, May 18, 2014

I've been as busy today as yesterday; but without as much work – at least through until I started my usual bedtime studies and work tonight.

We were back outdoors again for Tai Chi this morning, and though we still needed to dress warmly enough to do that; at least it wasn't practically freezing out. That was a good start to the day, and then I needed to rush around a bit to get ready for church and then hurry over to Michael's house in time for breakfast with his family. That was an amazing hour and a half of food and entertainment. Having Jake and Stephanie home was great; and we all loved hearing some of their college stories. Today, that was mostly about their final exam and travel adventures; and it was especially fun to see Jacob and Jake working together in the kitchen again – and trying out a couple of dishes that Jake has been experimenting with at school.

Having college teens home for the summer was a big deal at church today, and while that meant that my favorite members of that group were kept busy before and after the service and Sunday school; I also got to make the rounds and visit with others – like Isabelle and Andrew. There's a good chance that I'll see more of both of them this year since Andrew will be working with Mom and Owen on the computer systems at the lab; but they're adults now and have their own busy lives, so it just isn't the same as back when they first started babysitting me about four years ago. It's hard to believe that they're already finished their third year at college; and will be done school in just two more years. I might not get to spend much time with them this summer, but Ethan and Ehlana will be happy to hang out with Isabelle at KidZone when they're there; and with Andrew when they're with Mom at the lab.

Violet and Dillon were as busy as the rest of the collegians, and sat with his family during the service; so I didn't spend much time with them until they came over to our house this afternoon. Since I sat with Michael and his family anyway that worked out; and I didn't have to choose between hanging out with them or with Jake and Stephanie until we went to Sunday school. I didn't get to spend much time with Michael after the service because he needed to get to the Inn; so that's when I made the rounds and shared some hugs, kisses, and a few words with as many of the college teens as I could get to before going home with Mom, Dad, and the twins. Violet was at Dillon's for lunch, so it was just the five of us at our place. I helped Mom with the cooking and clean-up so that Dad could do his work; and then I took Ethan and Ehlana to the park for some play time. Rowen and Tim met up with us there, and we went for an ice cream break at the Emporium in time to meet up with Michael for his break. The guys took Ethan with them for some football action after that; and we wrapped up our park time with another blast of fun at the playground before heading back to my house for the last half of Michael's break.

Though Dad needed to do a lot of work, he and Mom were hosting a family barbeque dinner for Violet and Dillon; and the two teens were there by the time we got back from the park. We were able to hang around in the back yard with them and play with Ethan and Ehlana pretty much until Michael headed back to the Inn, and then, after Rowen and Tim moved on too; I was put to work for a while setting up tables and chairs outside for dinner while Mom, Grandma, and my aunts worked in the kitchen. Ethan, Ehlana, and I weren't totally on the edges during dinner; but we weren't right in the middle of the action either as Violet and Dillon were the center of attention; and kept busy chatting with her adult cousins. She spent extra time with Zack and Leah too; had some more play time with Ethan and Ehlana after dinner while I was on the clean-up crew; and then we finally got to spend some time together after the rest of our family went home for the night. Dad went back to work then, so the rest of us hung out in the living room until it was time for Ethan and Ehlana to go to bed.

Violet and Dillon took care of the bedtime story and getting my brother and sister tucked in for the night, so after helping Mom with another minor clean-up; I headed up to my room for some Jacuzzi time before getting ready for bed. I took my time doing that because I knew that Mom and Dad were finally getting some time to visit with Violet and Dillon without kids or a crowd around; and they did that until Dad was finished his work and Dillon headed home for the night. I was in bed and already working on my language studies by then, and after saying goodnight to Mom and Dad; Violet stopped in for a little girl chat time.

That isn't the same as it used to be for either of us – and not just because of things like joking about arranging boyfriend sleepovers for both of us. It's funny how that happens anyway despite the fact that I have the equivalent of a handful of Masters degrees that have me well-ahead of Violet on the education ladder. She's getting comfortable with her independence now, and while she's glad to be here with us for the summer; it may be occasionally uncomfortable when she wants to be able to do her own thing without having to worry about kids, teens, or guardian-cousins getting in the way.

I am going to like having those chats again – even if we may not do that as regularly as we have in the past. Violet stayed for about a half hour and then let me get back to work; and I put in another couple of hours on the family business before moving on to this update. Dad's going to be getting ready to hit the road in just a few hours, so I should have wrapped up sooner; but I need to work while I can ahead of the long weekend. It's getting easier every day to relate to Mom's issues with always having more work to do; and that's happening with my end of the family business more and more as there seems to be ever-expanding opportunities that just grow bigger the more I work at it.

We don't need to get into that tonight, and I really do need to get what nap time I can before getting up with Mom and the twins to see Dad off to the city; so, until next time...

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

Monday, May 19, 2014

We're back to the warm weather, and other than a bit of rain this morning; it's been a great day to be outdoors. I was too busy most of the time to enjoy that; but we've still managed to have a lot of fun.

The rain didn't come until after Mom, Michael, Ethan, Ehlana, and I had exercised by the river; and Dad probably made it to the city ahead of the wet too unless it hit there earlier than here. Rowen, Rebecca, and I did get rained on a bit during the walk to school; but everything had pretty much dried out again by noon so that we could hang around outside at lunchtime and the boys could play football.

While most of our classmates aren't getting serious about it yet, our teachers started getting us ready for final exams and testing this week. We also are hitting deadlines over the next two weeks for major projects; though that isn't an issue for Michael, Tim, Rowen, and me since we're way ahead on all of that work – or have the work submitted already. Exams aren't really an issue for three of us either; but we did start studying for them tonight anyway; and offered an open study group to our classmates for anyone interested in working with us or wanting the tutoring help – though we didn't put that last part to them quite that way.

There wasn't really a lot of time for studying tonight, but we still did our homework and got at least a start on our exam preparation before Michael and I needed to get to work helping out at his house until dinnertime. Jake had spent a lot of the day helping his parents around the house and yard too; and they're using both of their days off this week to get ready to host Jacob's family for the holiday weekend. Today, we worked on cleaning guest bedrooms after Rowen and Tim moved on with plans to do some biking at the park; and we kept going until it was time to have dinner early enough that Michael could still get to his baseball practice after helping out with the all-teen dinner clean-up crew.

Rowen and I didn't go to watch that practice, and we instead met up at my house to do a Magi lesson with Mom. I wasn't the only person thinking that we didn't get to do that enough anymore; but Mom is going to do some special lessons with Rowen at her grandmother's request to help her with learning better techniques for some of her strongest talents – like shielding. My involvement in those lessons will mostly be to help me learn to teach and be a partner when needed for each side of different tests, but that's always fun for us; and I'm glad we'll be doing a bit more of that again for a while. Having Michael and Tim at baseball practice on Monday nights might just give us a regular opportunity to do those lessons for the next few months.

While that was a highlight of the day for us, our next round of entertainment for the evening was a visit to the new Witch Falls Museum. It doesn't open until Friday, but they had a wine and cheese open house tonight. Rowen and I collected Michael and Tim from the school ballpark on our way there; and met up with Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana at the museum. Since we've so recently visited the Smithsonian, it's a bit funny to think of our little display of town and regional history as a museum; but I still loved getting to see all of the displays of artifacts and stories dating back to the sixteen hundreds – and even into the more distant past thanks to some geological and archaeological donations. Marianne Palmer's legend obviously had a prominent place in the museum; but nearly all of the local folklore was represented.

From what we were told, about half of the artifacts have just been in storage or on display around the town hall; while everything else was donated. A large group of volunteers helped with the write-ups that go with all of the displays; and the little souvenir shop will hopefully support most of the expenses for the museum. We couldn't buy anything tonight; but I'll go back this weekend sometime to pick up a few things – like 'I'm a Witch Falls Witch' tops for Ehlana and me. There are 'Warlock' and 'Wizard' versions for the different tops, sweaters, hats, and everything else they're going to be selling; but I'll let Michael and Ethan decide for themselves whether they want to risk their reputations by wearing anything like that – particularly if they'll match with Ehlana and me.

There actually was wine available for the adults at the open house, but there were other drink and snack options for the kids and teens too; and there was a really good turnout for the event. It was going on for three hours, but we only stayed until about nine; wanting to give more people a chance to get into the crowded place and get a first look around. I went home with Michael first so that we could have a music practice while Ethan and Ehlana were doing bath time and getting ready for bed; but I was home again in time to do the bedtime story and tuck them in for the night.

Mom opted for some Jacuzzi time and then going to bed instead of doing a second Magi lesson with me; so I was able to get a slightly earlier than usual start on my bedtime work and studies. Violet's been out with Dillon, Jake, Stephanie, and some of their friends tonight, so I only saw her for a few minutes while crossing paths here and there; but she stopped in again tonight for a short chat on her way to bed a couple of hours ago. I've still barely seen Christina or Josiah since they got home on Sunday even though they're both just down the street from us at each end of the road; but maybe we'll get to spend some time together before they leave again to spend the holiday weekend with the McEwan clan.

Since I had the early start anyway, I've put in extra time on the family business tonight because we're just going to get busier every day this week; and I'm going to need to keep helping out with holiday weekend work – at Michael's house again tomorrow; and here on Wednesday and Thursday. Add in band practice, extra study time to get ready for exams, and two baseball nights; and it's going to be non-stop action around here this week before we even get to the holiday weekend family and friends fun.

There isn't much to write about from my email and the usual nightly computer checks; but there were pictures out on the town intranet for the new water slides and playground at Quarry Lake; along with a write-up about the additions to the campground. We won't have time to check any of that out this weekend; but I hope we can get there soon to do that; since it is going to be even more fun there this year. The weather report isn't looking that great for the weekend right now; but I'm hoping it'll change as it usually does – or we'll get the rain in the overnight hours.

That reminds me of one more job to do that I wasn't thinking about – the annual Memorial Day town clean-up and the flowers and flags planting at the cemetery we'll be doing on Friday. Our class will be on the park cleanup crew this year, and while I'm sure that we'll have fun anyway; it's also one of the tougher assignments.

I'm getting tired just thinking about all of that, and don't really have anything else to add to this update; so I'm out of here. Until next time...

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

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Another beautiful, hot summer-like day; and we were again too busy with school and work to enjoy much of it!

I'm not saying that we didn't have any fun, and we did get to spend some time outdoors; but doing chores around the house isn't the same as canoeing, biking, or playing with our friends and family.

While a lot of the teens are still in denial; the final exam preparation continued in our classes today. To be honest, that isn't very exciting for me since another review of material I learned back when I was a toddler isn't exactly challenging; but that's not really news either when I go through the same thing every year. Moving along, other than another football-filled lunch break that kept Michael and Tim busy while Rowen and I just relaxed and enjoyed the sunshine while chatting with our friends; it was a quiet day at school. We had the seniors back for band practice, and we worked a bit harder to get ready for the Memorial Day parade – which would be the last band activity for some of our Grade Twelve band mates.

That practice went a bit long, so we had less time to study at the computer store – and lost a bit more time when it took a while to drag Tim away from the football field. We didn't have any projects or assignments due that weren't done already; so we were at least able to use the time to study for our exams – though that was more for Tim's benefit than for Michael, Rowen, or me. Michael and I moved on to his house in time for dinner after a short stop at mine to check in with Mom and have a micro-visit with Ethan and Ehlana.

This may be shocking, but they occasionally have an easy-dinner night at Michael's house when Jacob is there; and tonight was one of those rare events. Jacob, Miranda, Jake, and Stephanie had all been working around the house off and on all day; and they'd decided to just grill some burgers and have cold salads and snacks on the side. With everything else we'd had on the go already; Michael and I barely made it there in time to sit down and eat. That little break was fun, but then we were put to work right away; and we helped out until Miranda decided that they were pretty much ready for their weekend guests at about the same time it was getting dark.

Michael walked me home then, and we had a fun little break to say goodnight to each other out by the river before I went inside and he went home again. In case I haven't mentioned this enough; I really love those romantic little moments by the river. Ethan and Ehlana are getting ready for final exams now too – for their second freshman semester of college; so they were still in the office with Mom and working when I met up with them. Any time I start wishing that I didn't have to always play at being a Grade Eight student, I can at least be glad that I didn't have to juggle daycare days with college work when I was their age. They do have fun with their friends, but it's still sometimes tough for them – especially when they have to put work that they're interested in on hold.

Mom had them wrap up their work for the night while we had a little chat; and then we all went upstairs for the night. Mom and I did the bedtime routine with the twins first; and then we were both ready for a little Jacuzzi time and just opted to skip my Magi lesson for a night. That gave me more time for my studies and work, and including the multi-tasking tub time; I've been working on my computer for the past four hours. I've had enough fun for the day, though, and I'll be switching over to helping Mom with the work at our house tomorrow night. Violet's been helping her during the day, but with everything they have on the go – including getting back to Violet's Magi training – there is still a lot to get done.

Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I will also have our first extra study buddies for exams after school tomorrow too; which is why we'll do that here instead of at the conference room at Landry's or Tim's house. Mom has coed baseball practice tomorrow night too; so it is really going to be a non-stop action kind of day.

I am going to wrap this up now, but in case you're wondering why I haven't mentioned spending any time with Violet tonight; that's because she's been with Dillon and his family tonight – and didn't make it home. As far as I know, that wasn't a planned sleepover, so she's either keeping a few things at his house; or will be shopping in Isabelle's closet for something to wear in the morning. Either way, I hope they're having a good night, and as always; Michael and I will appreciate the precedents our favorite older teens are setting for us!

It's past-time for my nap; so, until next time...

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

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Happy 1st Birthday, Kendra!

I wasn't involved in her big day in any way; but anyone reading this in the future will know why I'm including the little milestone here. ;^)

We've had another beautiful day; and another lost outdoor play opportunity while I mostly worked. It's after three right now, though; so I'm going to make this fairly short tonight.

It was a long weekend work day at home, but I had to get through school and an expanded study session in the lounge that Sally, Joshua, and Gretchen joined us for. There isn't really anything earth-shaking to report from school – just the ongoing exam preparation and scramble to get end of term projects finished and handed in. Our three friends joined our study group tonight to have us help them with getting ready for exams, and while we had fun hanging out together; we got a fair bit of work done too. Michael, Tim, and Rowen were all given extra time before needing to get to their part-time jobs to study longer, but I was on my own again by five-thirty; and got to work helping Mom and Violet around the house and in the kitchen.

Since they'd been working all day, I stayed at home when it was time for Mom to get to her baseball practice after dinner; and Violet went along to play with Ethan and Ehlana at the park. I rotated a couple of dishes in and out of the oven; chopped a small mound of potatoes to get them ready for a salad; and used a little Magi power to do some housework and laundry along the way too.

WARNING to any kids or teens who might be allowed to read this someday in the future – do not experiment with washing clothes using the elements, telekinesis, and air shields to hold it all together unless you know what you're doing! Your parents will not be impressed if you flood any part of your house, destroy the clothes, or even just send wet clothes flying all over the place.

No, that is not the voice of experience – I learned my lesson about Magi-powered messes back when I was a baby and tried to change my own diaper so that I didn't have to wake Mom up. She laughs about it now; but didn't find it funny at the time while keeping me from landing on my head and then cleaning up the mess I'd made when the contents of my diaper had gone flying everywhere.

I am so glad that can never be a story told outside of our Magi family!

Moving along, though; I worked the entire time that Mom, Violet, and the twins were at the park; we finished up Mom's cooking plans for the day after they got home again; and then cleaned up before Violet and Dillon went to hang out with Jake, Stephanie, Josiah, and Christina for a couple of hours. Mom did Magi lessons with us after that; we both took care of getting Ethan and Ehlana into bed; and then I came up to my room to get started on my usual studies and work. I put in the extra time again tonight because the little extra push was enough that I won't need to do any extra work tomorrow night. With luck, I might even get a normal night of sleep and be fully charged for the weekend.

There's still more work to do around here tomorrow, but we're almost ready to host our incoming family and handle the extra meals and our contributions for the Memorial Day picnic. Violet told me that she'll help Mom again for at least part of the day too when we had our little bedtime chat after she got home tonight; but then she'll be hanging out with Dillon. They both want to spend extra time with her parents, brothers, and sister while they're here this weekend; so they're already trying to juggle their schedules to accommodate everything that's going on with both of their families. I expect they'll be doing that all summer – especially once they start working their summer jobs next week.

Okay, I'm beat, and that at least covers most of the highlights for today. Until next time...

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

Thursday, May 22, 2014

It's not really that late yet compared to the rest of the week, but I'm going to keep this update very short and take advantage of the chance for some extra sleep.

The rain moved in overnight, and has been coming down off and on all day along with the occasional thunderstorm rolling through. That kept us indoors for Tai Chi, at lunchtime, and after school. It was a quiet day there because of that; and we only had a short study session at the Inn after school without any extra members of the group because we were all busy with work or helping out to get ready for the holiday weekend.

We finally ran out of luck for baseball practice, and got rained out tonight, but instead of going to game night at the Inn; I stayed at home to keep the cooking going in the kitchen and sent Mom to the Inn instead so that Miranda wouldn't be disappointed. With Dad away, she always looks at these weeks as her only chances to win game night championships; and I wouldn't dream of taking that away from her just because Mom had work to do at home. Violet and Dillon were at the Inn too, and though Jake and Stephanie were there as well; all four teens had mostly gone for a chance to visit with friends and neighbors they didn't get to hang out with regularly.

Ethan and Ehlana opted to stay at home with me instead of going out in the rain and hanging out at the Inn. If that had something to do with Seeing ahead of time that Michael was going to skip game night too and come over to our house, and they felt the need to chaperone us; they didn't say. We all had fun together, though; and even had a little Magi play time while I worked in the kitchen and switched two sets of dishes in and out of the oven while Mom was out.

We waited until Mom got home to do the bedtime story and snack; but Ethan and Ehlana had finished with their baths by then; and Michael stayed until after they were tucked in for the night. I kind of wish that he was here and tucking me in right now; but I digress. ;^)

Mom did my Magi lesson with me after Michael went home; and then we both went to bed too – since we'd multi-tasked that lesson with the kitchen cleanup. How many Magi ways can you scrub pots and pans?

We both hopped into our Jacuzzis after that, since doing that probably won't happen for either of us while we have guests this weekend. I did the rest of my nightly computer checks while doing that; so this is all I had left to get done after climbing into bed with Mandy. Being asleep before midnight feels more like a novel idea than normal lately; but I'm ready to give it my best effort right now; so, until next time...

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

Friday, May 23, 2014

This report is coming to you while Dawn's borrowing my Jacuzzi and I have time to do it before we hop into bed with Mandy and watch a movie on my computer. Chris and Martin are gaming in the lounge, and while hanging out with them was an option, Dawn didn't really want to do that; and sitting around watching them play isn't all that exciting anyway. I'd have a different opinion of that if Michael were here too and I could cuddle with him; but he's at home with his family tonight.

We've had a really good day; though it's been crazy-busy too. With just a half-day of classes, the lessons part of the day was a breeze, and while being on the work crew at the park was hard work; Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I had a lot of fun with our friends too. It also really feels great to see how awesome the park looked by the time we were finished – though that's even better for the kids and teens that get to help out at the cemetery with the flowers and flags.

My work wasn't over once we were set free for the long weekend. Michael and I were drafted to mow the lawns at both of our houses; mostly because we have rain in the forecast for tomorrow again – and off-and-on all weekend. I hope they'll be wrong about that, but it didn't really matter all that much to me whether we did the work tonight or tomorrow – rain or shine it'll just mean that I'll have more time to play instead of doing chores tomorrow morning. That work did keep both of us busy until dinnertime; and Michael stayed with me for that before we helped with the cleanup and then had some time to play while waiting for our collective families to begin arriving.

Michael's grandparents arrived first because they were able to get on the road earlier than his aunt, uncle, and cousins could; and we were their porters and welcoming committee of two. We had drinks and a front porch chat with them too; but then they walked over to the Inn to see Jacob, Miranda, Jake, and Rebecca while we all waited for the rest of the gang to arrive. That next few hours was a mix of family fun and bursts of work as we split our time between four houses – though we only stopped in for very short visits at Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne's house and at Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace's place to say hello to their guests.

The Rice clan made it to town before the rest of Michael's family; and they had Dad with them for the drive from Crystal Springs after meeting him there for dinner. There was one big change for them, and that was that Chris and Martin drove here in their car while their grandparents came with Rick, Melissa, and Dawn instead of bringing a third car. My cousins are very proud of their car, or at least they're thrilled with the freedom it gives them; but they need to work a bit on learning the value of regularly cleaning it out. Yes, they did make an attempt to clean it up a bit ahead of the trip here; but there was still enough evidence left behind to hint at the usual state of the floor and back seat – particularly with the 'keeper' pile stashed in the trunk for future sorting.

There wasn't much time for Michael and I to visit with them once we'd helped to carry luggage up to the second and third floor before we needed to get over to his house to welcome the Bishop clan. That was particularly fun for me because I was put in charge of Michael's thirteen-month old cousin, Gerry, while everyone else took care of unloading the vehicles. Gerry was fed up with being in his car seat by then, so after taking care of a diaper change; I helped him to blow of some steam and pent up energy with some play time in the back yard. Michael's grandparents came back from the Inn then too, so the back porch became party central.

While Gerry was the first great-grandchild for Jacob's parents; Michael's cousin Drew's wife, Heidi, is pregnant; and due in early November. I didn't hear about it until tonight, but there has apparently been some razzing going on between Drew and Eric, because the younger man had finally managed to 'succeed' at something before his ultra-competitive older brother.

I wonder how annoying that was for their parents when they were kids and teens.

Jake and Stephanie were sent home early so that they could spend time with Jake's grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins; and while Michael's Aunt Anne cant' comprehend why her nephew and his girlfriend would actually want to work at the Inn when they're finished college; she was as interested as everyone else was to hear some of the stories from their adventures in and around New York – and at their schools. I stayed with Michael until about a half hour after his parents and Rebecca got home from the Inn, and then I headed home to spend some time with my own cousins while everyone was still awake. They were spending the evening outdoors too, but I only caught the tail-end of that party before it was time to go in and take care of little jobs like getting Ethan and Ehlana into bed for the night.

Dawn and I took care of that while her brothers came up to the lounge to get started on their gaming and everyone else either moved into the living room or went upstairs to bed. Violet and Dillon were with the parents in the living room – and still are; though they'll likely be thinking about wrapping that visit up by now after having such a long day. I hope Violet will stop in and spend some time with Dawn and me after Dillon goes home and everyone else heads off to bed; but we'll see how that goes – assuming we're not asleep by then anyway.

If tonight is any indication, this is going to be a very crazy-busy weekend as Michael and I try to juggle everything we have on the go with both of our families and the work at the Inn too. That may change if we get too much rain to mess with the play time plans, but we'll just have to deal with that on the fly; and I'm' sure we'll have fun whether we're stuck indoors or get to enjoy most of our adventures outdoors.

I guess that's it for now, so I'm out of here – and on to movie time as soon as Dawn is ready for bed.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Saturday, May 24, 2014

This update is coming to you much earlier than I expected because we didn't have our annual Memorial Day weekend campfire tonight due to wet everything and risk of getting rained on – though we haven't had more rain since earlier this evening.

Tai Chi by the river was a go, and that was a fun start to the day, but then the rain started falling by breakfast; and it has been with us off and on all day – along with some thundershowers rolling through a few times too. Michael and I are juggling family all weekend, so he was with me for breakfast here today; and I'll be at his tomorrow. We helped with the cooking today, and that got us a pass for the cleanup crew.

I loved the hour and change that we spent having that meal with everyone, and while my relationship with Chris and Martin in particular is changing quite a bit now as we all get older; that's actually better in a lot of ways than it used to be. Michael helps out with that, I'm sure; though he's a lot quieter than either of my cousins. Dawn and I always get along great, and while she feels a bit weird right now because she's a year behind me on the growth chart – and when we're hanging out with Michael – that doesn't get in the way of our friendship at all. She doesn't have a serious boyfriend right now, but we had fun last night as she told me some stories about the dating scene back home - which makes the little dramas at our school seem tame by comparison.

Moving along, after the work around the kitchen was finished and everyone had gotten ready for the day, we headed out into the rain for a little shopping fun. That had been on the planned schedule as an optional activity that I would have missed most of while doing yard work, so that worked out pretty well for me; and we managed to get inside a store any time the rain really started coming down as the little bursts of thundershowers rolled through. We hit all of the usual stores, and Dawn and I had fun hanging out with Jaimie and Kaitlyn. My favorite part of the morning was getting to visit the new museum with everyone; and we spent nearly an hour there by the time we'd seen and talked about all of the displays and then picked up some souvenirs.

The barbeque lunch was indoors too, though the rain had stopped for a while then; and that meant that we couldn't have everyone from all families together. We were lunch central for the Proctor-Rice clan; and Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne hosted the Johnson-Carrington family. Michael was at the Inn by then; and his family had lunch there – even though they weren't able to spend a lot of time with Jacob, Miranda, or the kids while they were all busy. Mom and Aunt Leanne had set up a trail ride and corral adventure for the afternoon, and since it looked as though the rain was going to take a break long enough; they decided to take a chance and go ahead with that.

Kids and teens had first dibs on the available spots for the spots on the trail ride; all of the younger kids were doing the corral adventure; and babies and toddlers were with the grandparents for the afternoon while we were away. Rowen came with Dawn and me for the ride, but Tim and Michael were both too busy to take the afternoon off. The Dads were in charge of the corral adventure for Ethan, Ehlana, Jayden, and Nicole; and Uncle Rick volunteered to help Dad with the twins. That allowed the Moms to go on the trail ride, and if you need a hint as to how far Aunt Alison has come over the past three or four years; she rode with us today – mostly because Jaimie really, really wanted them to do that together.

I thought that was very cool, but don't expect Aunt Alison to give up the city life and suggest that they buy a horse farm anytime soon – though that would be awesome if they lived somewhere closer to us!

Rowen and I were paired up for the ride because Dawn was with Violet for some quality sister time while Martin hung out with Dillon. The trails were still a bit wet after the morning rain, and it was fairly cloudy, but we didn't get rained on; and the place by the river where we had our little break was mud-free, if not completely dry. Our ride today was ninety minutes; which was just long enough for the younger kids to get through their corral ride and have a tour of the barns.

There is one awesome addition to the ranch this summer, and while it isn't open yet; the tour for the younger kids included a visit to the brand new vet clinic; and the rest of us were able to go take a look after our ride too. John and Pamela's oldest son just finished college and is now a vet; and his new clinic will open in a couple of weeks – just in time for summer.

I should probably book an appointment for Mandy – even though I just take care of her myself anytime she isn't feeling well; so she's perfectly healthy.

While we didn't get rained on while at the ranch, that didn't last; and that made for a wet time for the guys working the grills for dinner – mostly because by the time it started raining again, they'd already started cooking; and it was too late to change the dinner plans. Dinner was at Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne's, since we were going to use both their back yard and Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace's, so having somewhere to put everyone when we needed to be indoors for dinner worked out okay because we just split up between the two houses. Kids and teens were at tables on the back porch at Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne's; and Dawn and I were in charge of the younger kids – though that was only because Chris and Martin didn't want the job. Violet and Dillon were with his family for dinner and the evening after being with us for most of the rest of the day. We didn't have as big a gang to feed as some years, and had fewer drop-in visitors; so that few hours actually seemed quieter than usual.

Since the rain put an end to the outdoor play and campfire plans; my lounge was video gaming central; and there were movies happening in the living rooms at all three houses. Dawn and I split our time between watching the early movie with the adults and younger kids; and then we moved upstairs for the rest of the night after Rowen came over. She's doing a sleepover with us tonight; but had been busy for dinner and the evening with Tim and their families. Jayden's staying here tonight too, and he and Ethan played some games with Chris and Martin before bedtime while Rowen, Dawn, Ehlana, and I watched them play – and had a bit of music play time in my room while the boys were busy.

The parents took care of getting the twins and Jayden off to bed after that, and while Chris and Martin continued gaming in the lounge; Rowen, Dawn, and I took turns in the Jacuzzi and hung out in my room. The lounge would have been more comfortable, but we still kept entertained with some random YouTube video surfing and a lot of girl chat. We hadn't expected the boys to give up the lounge early, so Dawn is bunking with Violet tonight; and she went over to that room when we were ready to get some sleep. Violet isn't home yet; so Dawn will likely be sleeping before she does get here from Dillon's place.

Rowen and I have been snuggling with Mandy and continuing our chat while I got started on my usual bedtime computer checks; but we're both pretty much ready to nap now too. Maybe it's something about rainy days that makes a person more tired, since this hasn't exactly been a tough day for either of us; but whatever the reason; I'm okay with getting the extra nap time tonight.

Let's wrap this up now; and I'll get right to that.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Sunday, May 25, 2014

This is going to be very short because it's been a really long day; and I had to wait to write this until after Jaimie and Kaitlyn finally fell asleep. Mandy and I have Jaimie with me and Violet has Kaitlyn.

We've had a few thunderstorms roll through today, but the rest of the day was pretty good; and we even managed to dodge most of the wet when we were playing or outdoors. Tai Chi by the river was great; breakfast with Michael's family was awesome; and the rest of the pre-church activity was non-stop crazy. The teens led the service; so that was a blast too; and then I went straight to the Inn with Michael and his family so that we could get everything ready for the first of four buffet sittings. That took crazy-busy to a new level, and kept at that level for the rest of the day – for almost everyone working at the Inn.

That didn't quite include me, because I went home after everything was cooked for the first buffet and the second wave of food went out. We had a big family canoe adventure for an hour and a half or so; and then I cleaned up and went back to the Inn. From then until the last wave of food went out for the fourth buffet; the only break that Michael and I took was to have a quick dinner with our families during the third buffet. Rebecca and Michael were set free when I was too; but they went home to hang out with their family while I needed to go on to my house to hang out with Jaimie and Kaitlyn. Dawn's spending the night with Aunt Grace and Uncle Mark; while Chris and Martin spent most of the evening hanging out with some friends before taking over the lounge for gaming an hour or so ago.

Before that, it was kid and teen movie night in the lounge; and then Jaimie and Kaitlyn took turns in my Jacuzzi. Violet and I helped them with a pair of mini-makeovers; and then we sat on my bed and had a nice long girl chat until Kaitlyn finally ran out of steam and let Violet take her off to bed. Jaimie lasted a bit longer as we cuddled with Mandy and watched some videos on YouTube; but a couple of pop ballads finally put her to sleep and gave me a chance to get my usual bedtime computing done.

The weather forecast is for more rain and thunderstorms tomorrow; but I hope it'll be like today with short rain spurts instead of long stretches of wet. Getting rained on while playing with the band in the parade wouldn't be fun for sure; though 'fun' isn't the right word for participating in a Memorial Day parade anyway. Whether our town picnic will be at the park or school will be a set-up time decision in the morning; so we won't know until then what we'll end up doing.

I do want to be ready for another busy, amazing day with my family, friends, and neighbors; so that's all I have for today. Until next time...

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

Monday, May 26, 2014

There was a risk of thunderstorms in the area all day; so the early morning decision was made to set up the Memorial Day picnic at the school instead of the park. That change ended up making the day seem even more exciting for me; and the really great news is that we didn't even get any thunderstorms roll though until the picnic was over and our families and friends were on the road for home.

My morning started out great with Tai Chi, and then I needed to do my own thing to get ready for the day and have breakfast so that I could leave in time to meet up with Michael and Rowen and walk to the parade staging area along Homestead Court. We were the first members of our band to get there; which just labeled us as the new kids. Since this was our first home-town parade, though, we didn't mind getting teased about that. We also had time for a little extra warming up; and helped out with setting up the chairs and music stands on the flatbed trailer we rode on while playing our little repertoire of military marches and Memorial-themed songs. We had the full band there today; including the graduating seniors.

We were warmed up and ready to go with time to spare – especially since we were near the back of the small parade while the bagpipes corps led the way for us. Every Memorial Day has been special for Mom and me since we moved here; and that feeling today was all that and more getting to really be a part of the parade – especially getting to share that experience for the first time with Michael and Rowen. The trade-off for that is not actually getting watch the parade; but the service at the cemetery included another first – having Pastor John leading us; with a little help from his parents. There was one, last really special part of the morning for me, and that was getting to do the family story time after the service with Michael, Rebecca, and their family. Their grandparents may be very happy with the city life now after retiring; but that doesn't keep them from being very proud of the Stone family heritage.

Maybe next year we'll go around with the Bassett side of his family so I can hear about that side of Michael's family.

Michael and I helped out with packing up chairs and music stands before we left the cemetery; and then we split up after walking home together so that we could each help our own families with getting food and picnic gear over to the school. That was yet another hour of non-stop action; but then Mom and Dad set me free for the rest of the afternoon – at least until the end of the picnic. It had been cloudy for most of the morning, but the sun was out by the time we were delivering the food to the volunteers working at the gym. The buffet tables were already set up indoors in case of stormy weather, so they didn't change that part of the plan; but nearly everyone set up their family day camps outside in the school yard instead of using the gym or picking out tables in the cafeteria.

Instead of hanging out with our families this afternoon, Michael and I took Dawn with us; met up with Rowen and Tim; and then went in search of some teen-rated fun – which led us straight to the best part of the day for some of us. We went to find Emma Norton so that Dawn wouldn't be the odd-teen out, and when we invited her to join us; we added Lucas to our group too. Five minutes later, we traded Dawn and Emma for Rebecca – or more specifically, the two younger girls decided to do anything else other than hang around with three teen 'couples' once Lucas was conveniently paired up with Rebecca.

If you – like Aunt Leanne did later today – are going to remind me about how I felt when she was trying to set me up with Michael as a reason for why my matchmaking license should be revoked; I'm only going to point out that both parties in this case really only needed a nudge to get where they both wanted to be; which is totally different than my situation. Add to that the fact that they're also at least a couple of years older than Michael and I were when Aunt Leanne first started out on her matchmaking mission for us. If she moves the age limit down much farther; Ethan and Ehlana will need to be afraid of that before they hit kindergarten!

Before I get too far into the Rebecca and Lucas story, though, I should mention that Rebecca was also looking for a reason to be anywhere other than hanging out with her best friend today – mostly because Jenny was 'playing the field' and flirting with some of the visiting, out-of-town guys. She'd wanted Rebecca to help her out with those games, but Rebecca didn't want to do that – particularly since she knew how that was affecting Garth Green. Jenny was basically ignoring him all afternoon, and though I knew they were on the way to being an ex-couple; it really wasn't until this weekend that it was obvious that Jenny had already decided to move on – even though they haven't technically broken up yet. I feel bad for Garth, but when we were around him while the guys were playing some football after lunch; he just looked mad; not broken up. He didn't act like he was on the market or anything, though; and just hung out with his buddies instead.

While the school yard isn't as big as the park, there was still enough room for everyone; a playground; and baseball and football were both options for entertainment to go along with the usual picnic games. The picnic buffet actually worked a bit better out of the gym that at the park pavilion because they were able to have more rows of tables and use all of the back exits along with the main gym entrances from inside the school to keep the flow of guests moving along fairly quickly without any really long lines. We went for food somewhere in the middle of the pack after wandering around for a while and hanging out with some of our friends; and then we sat in the bleachers at the football field to eat our lunches.

While Lucas and Rebecca sat next to each other, Michael and I did most of the conversational heavy lifting to get Lucas involved; though it was easy enough for Michael and Tim to get Lucas talking with them about football – as long as he didn't get too distracted from his close proximity to Rebecca. While he'll never read this, I should probably stop using the word 'adorable' to describe Lucas whenever he's around Rebecca – even though he really is that and then some. For her part, I think Rebecca has decided that Lucas is worth taking another chance on boys for. The fact that he was on the 'skins' team during the football scrimmage probably had nothing to do with that decision – the surprise hot factor that he normally hides under big, loose shirts was just a nice added bonus for her. ;^)

They weren't off hiding somewhere and making out by the end of the day or anything; but they did hold hands for a while after the football play time. Lucas had followed Michael's lead and offered Rebecca a hand when we were getting down from the bleachers, and Rebecca had probably made his day when she decided not to let go for the next fifteen minutes or so while we went for a walk and picked up drinks and ice cream to cool off with. While we didn't spend a lot of time with our collective families, we did have little cameo visits here and there. We watched part of a baseball game that we'd missed out on getting drafted for because the boys had been playing football; but we had other draftees to cheer for. I took a turn holding Zack for a while then too; but we moved on before the game ended so that we could play a few of the fundraiser games too before the picnic started winding down by four o'clock.

The Stone, Proctor, and Johnson families were among the first to leave the school; mostly because all of our visiting family had long drives that would have them home very late. For the next hour and a half, I was running constantly while helping our houseguests to get ready to leave; doing a flying round of goodbyes with everyone I could manage to visit before they were on the road; and then helping out with the start of the post-guest cleanup. I had dinner at Michael's house; where Rebecca and I had a fun little girl chat about Lucas that confirmed to me that she'd had as much fun this afternoon as I thought she had.

Michael and I met up with Rowen and Tim after dinner so that we could do our weekend homework that was mostly exam review assignments. We did that in the lounge because we did have a little rain roll through; though that didn't last long before we ended the day with a really nice evening.

Rowen and Tim only stayed long enough for us to do our work, and then they went over to his house while Michael and I spent some time with Ethan and Ehlana until their bedtime to give Mom and Dad a chance to work in the office without keeping up with kids too. Michael and I went for a walk after tucking my brother and sister in for the night; shared a little cuddle time by the river; and then shared a long hug and kiss goodnight before splitting up for the night.

I've been working on my computer since coming up to my room for the night; though part of the time included some Jacuzzi time multi-tasking. There was a lot of studying and work for me to get done tonight; so I'm coming up on four hours of computer time now – an hour of language study; more than two on the family business; and the rest of the time until now on an extended version of my nightly computer checks. That included a Hathorne Industries check that I'll write about tomorrow with the news from our future plans meeting; and some extra email from the around the family – both from those who were checking in after getting home; and the members of the Johnson and McEwan families that were away this weekend.

Getting some sleep is now at the top of my to-do list tonight, and I've at least covered some of the highlights of the day for me even though there was way too much going on today to write about everything. Another holiday weekend is in the books, and though it was a rainy break for a lot of people this year; we really did mostly luck out again here in Witch Falls – almost as if by magic!

No, I didn't tamper with the weather – that kind of thing is really just too tough to control even for a small area – and the potential for unintended consequences is just not worth the risk. A shield to protect a Magi from the weather would be much simpler anyway.

That wandered off a bit, but I'm back now; and ready to wrap this up and get some sleep. We have a very busy couple of weeks coming up now, and while that means getting ready for exams and writing them for me; the real fun is going to be over at the lab as Mom and Owen start working on the computer systems there with Andrew Jennings; and Dillon goes to work on setting up the lab with Uncle Adam. Violet will be helping out too; but that'll just be so that she can help Mom and Aunt Grace – and probably give Ethan and Ehlana some cover supervision there when Mom's too busy.

I'll save the rest of that discussion for tomorrow night after the meeting too, though; and I really am out of here for another night.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

This has been a fairly great day around Witch Falls, and while almost all of that happened without my personal involvement; that didn't keep me from enjoying the action from the sidelines. Before I get to all of that, though; let's start with what I did have going on today.

It seemed very quiet around the house this morning without a house full of guests, and Violet stayed at Dillon's last night too. Tai Chi by the river was a nice way to start the day, and though I haven't mentioned it in a while; Michael, Ethan, and Ehlana are continuing to learn new postures and forms all of the time; and can get away with doing more difficult forms in public now that the twins are closing in on three – and after exercising indoors all winter and a lot of the spring. Ethan and Ehlana will need to wait at least a few more years before doing the most difficult forms in public; but Michael can do more now and that won't be too obvious to most people after exercising with us for a year now.

Michael was back to morning weight training too; though this will be the last week of that for the school year because even Kyle needs to focus on exams next week. While using the weight room will be out for the summer, Tim has his own bench and weights; and Michael has advised me that Tim is going to make them both continue regular workouts all summer – even if that won't necessarily be five days a week. I'm sure that Rowen and I will be able to convince our boys that there are alternate exercise options – like biking, canoeing, swimming, and watching girlfriends in swimsuits. ;^)

With four school days left before final exams and tests next week; it was all-review all day in our classes. There are some teens still dealing with projects that are already late, including a few of our classmates; but that's just going to make it harder for them this week. Tim might have been one of the teens in that group – he certainly has been before; but that was just one more little bonus for him that came along with dating Rowen. He's not quite there yet, but he might be in real danger of being a straight-A student next hear. Now that'll shock his parents in a good way!

Getting ready for exams didn't keep the guys from taking advantage of the nice weather to play football at lunchtime; but it did mean no slacking off after school. There are no band practices for the next two weeks while we get ready for and then write our exams; so we were able to start studying right after school. While we only had three extra study buddies join us last week; we had nine extra classmates with us at my house today. Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana were at the lab for most of the time we were studying, and though it was a little bit crowded there; we worked in my lounge instead of at the dining room table. Since we really had a blast even while trying to get some work done too; I'll guess that we'll have an even bigger group tomorrow – if for no other reason than that we have really good snacks and drinks at my house.

Michael, Rowen, and I were kept busy helping our friends with everything from lending them our better study notes to working on the review assignments and practice tests that Uncle Nick – Mr. Ayres – and the rest of our teachers gave us to do. Tim is doing a lot better at school, but I'm not sure if he'll ever feel particularly confident with tutoring other people – unless it is related to football. He might have been a straight-A student all along if our teachers only taught every single subject with some kind of football connection!

"If it's third and sixteen on your team's forty-three yard line, and you catch a lateral pass seven yards behind the line of scrimmage; a) How far do you need to run for a first down?; b) Where would the new line of scrimmage be?; and c) Could you make it if Kyle Landry was between you and the first down marker?"

I know, that wasn't all that funny, but it's after three o'clock; and my funny bone fell asleep a couple of hours ago.

Okay, so the study time was fun, and we each one of our friends stayed as long as they could before either getting picked up by parents if they'd skipped taking the bus to work with us instead; or they walked home. Rowen and Tim were the last to leave; and Michael stayed to have dinner with us before heading home when it was time for our family business and future plans meeting.

The top news story there was everything going on at the lab today. Mom, Owen, and Andrew Jennings started working on installing the computer systems; Dillon will be working on setting up the labs and greenhouse with Uncle Adam and a mix of construction workers and lab employees; and Violet is technically working for Mom, but will spend as much time with Aunt Grace as the main floor offices are completed, furnished, and decorated. While I'm thinking about that, I wanted to mention that this phase of the lab project is very good for local businesses; since Aunt Grace is buying as much locally as possible. That will make for a really good business year for everyone – especially for ValleyView furniture, the Fix-it Shop, Emporium, hardware store, and Emerson Computers.

I won't get into the specifics of the work going on every day at the lab, since that's all being documented in the archive for the lab that Uncle Adam is keeping track of; but there are a few things that I want to write about related to the work they've started today – and related reports and plans from our meeting tonight. Let's start with the archives. Mom will be doing most of the computer system installations on the basement levels for both the first basement level lab and the bottom two floors that the archives will be on. The security systems for the building are already installed an operational; though some of the levels haven't been made operational yet so that workers can still get pretty much anywhere in the building with just a very few restrictions.

It is going to take years to bring all of the archives from around the world home; but that effort is kicking up several notches this year. Grandpa Grant and Grandma Eleanor are coordinating and leading that effort; and the shipments will be coming in much more frequently now as the teams working on that are able to carefully pack up and ship the often-fragile and one-of-a-kind books and scrolls. The timeline to have everything here is four years – so basically by the time I'm finished high school; we should have the entire Magi archive here at home where it belongs. That may seem like a long time just to ship a bunch of books, but the only way we could do that faster would be to have people doing that full-time year-round. Even with the way we're doing it, Grandpa Grant and Grandma Eleanor will be travelling for a third or more of every year – and that doesn't include the work that'll need to be done at this end as the books arrive.

Ethan will actually be leading that part of the job; though we'll need to be very careful with that for the next few months with so many people working there. He is going to be the archivist, though; so don't let the fact that he's only three – almost – affect your perception of his ability to do that. He and Ehlana are, after all, about to finish their freshman year of college. If you think that his work with the archives is impressive; just wait until you find out about what Ehlana's going to do with her research at the lab!

I guess that's actually next, and though Ehlana couldn't pitch in to help with the lab setup; she did have some suggestions at the meeting tonight for things she'd like to have added or changed after getting to do a tour of the building today. Ehlana really wants to hit the ground running with the lab in September; and there are things that she wants to have done this summer so that she and Uncle Adam can take at least some of the ideas that they've mostly only been able to talk about so far and hit the ground running with them in September.

While Andrew doesn't know it yet, his work this summer is going to be perfect training for the job we have in mind for him after he graduates. It's hard to believe that isn't really all that far away – Andrew and Isabelle will be starting their Senior year at college in August! That's still two years until they'll be finished their Masters' degrees; but that really doesn't seem like very long with everything that's going to happen around here between now and then.

On the construction end of our local future plans, the first apartment building is basically done now except for the finishing work; appliance deliveries; and final clean-up. Move-ins will start during the last week of June so that the tenants can be in their new apartments for the holiday weekend. The medical center building is a little bit behind schedule right now because of the extra rain around here; but that shouldn't be a problem as long as we get some dry stretches over the next couple of months. As long as the shell of the building us up by late fall; there won't be a problem with having the place ready to open next June. That building is being built to grow, though, so it won't even need to be fully finished inside for a few more years.

We went over the more general plans for work we'll be doing over the next few years; talked about projects that are in the works for other businesses in town that isn't related directly to our family business; and Ethan, Ehlana, and I had a few future plan details to pass on to our little group so they'll be ready to deal with those issues – though we didn't give away any major surprises and spoil any fun for them either. I'll write about those things as they happen instead of doing that now – even though you'll already know about some or all of my future events whenever you read this in your 'now'.

The meeting lasted about two and a half hours, and after our guests headed for their homes; I took care of getting Ethan and Ehlana off to bed while Mom and Dad worked in the office. I was in bed by eleven-thirty after doing my Magi lesson with Mom once the twins were tucked in. It's been all studying and work since then, but I've gotten a lot of work done; and I'm almost ready now to wrap up this round of language study before taking the summer off from studying anything except the archives.

The extra work definitely has me ready for some nap time now; and I guess that's about it for the news today, so, until next time...

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

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

It's almost four o'clock, and I'm beat; so let's keep this short tonight.

Tai Chi; breakfast; school – all pretty much a repeat of yesterday. Ditto that for after-school exam study time; except add three more classmates. Add a dash or two of rain here and there this afternoon and mix in some playground time with Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden while the parents were at baseball practice; and that takes us up to bedtime – at least for the twins.

Since then, I've had my Magi lesson with Mom, some Jacuzzi time with language study multi-tasking, and another four hours and change of bonus study and work time to get me to this point of exhaustion. The good news there is that I'm taking the next week and a half or so off from all but the 'must-do' bedtime computing. I'll keep up with my family business responsibilities; but it's time for a break from the language and archives studying while I'm busy with just a bit too much of everything else right now.

I'll need to be at full power every day if I want to help my friends and classmates have fun while we finish getting ready for our exams and write them next week. While taking those tests isn't a problem for me, that doesn't mean I can't relate to the stress some of my friends are feeling now; and I definitely can help with making the work more fun – and cheering them on.

Doing that won't be very effective if I don't get at least a little sleep, though, so that's all for now, folks.

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Thursday, May 29, 2014

My report tonight is going to be short again – this time because I'm going to bed early and catching up on my sleep.

Take yesterday, add in the rest of my classmates for our after-school study session; switch from babysitting during baseball to practicing with Rowen and the rest of our team while Mom, Dad, and the twins were at the In for game night; and cut out about three and a half of the four hours of bedtime studying and work and you pretty much have the picture of my day. Michael and Tim were also at the park during our practice, and played football with Lucas; which gave me a chance to nudge Rebecca and Lucas a bit with an invitation to hang out with Michael, Tim, Rowen, and me tomorrow night. Talking everyone into taking a night off from exam studying to have some fun wasn't tough, and with one parent on-site; I was even able to get approval and a ride back home again for Lucas. I have no idea what we're going to do yet, and the ongoing risk of thunderstorms will continue tomorrow too; but I'll make sure that we all have fun whether we get to play indoors or out before we'll all need to get back to our exam studies for the rest of the weekend.

There was one other difference between today and yesterday – Michael and I got to have a little alone time between baseball and when our families got home from game night at the Inn. I won't get into the details; but let's just say that I'm going to have some very pleasant dreams tonight when I put those memories on replay and repeat. In fact, getting to that right now sounds like much more fun to me than playing with my computer anymore; so, until next time...

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

Friday, May 30, 2014

This has been one of those really awesome days, so sit back and relax – this update might take a while!

First of all, the impending arrival of exam week didn't get in the way of our fun, and neither did a bit of rain; since that only passed through town while we were in classes and doing on last round of exam review. To be fair, our exams aren't quite the same as the high school version of our finals; but they are getting tougher as our teachers get us ready for the jump to the next level. Okay, that doesn't apply to me; but you know what I mean.

Before I get to the fun part of the report, the top news story at school was the no-at-all-unexpected 'official' break-up of Jenny and Garth. The only real surprise there was that the their little drama dragged on all week; but for all I know, there was some significance to Jenny for ending this month with one boyfriend before starting June as a newly-freed single woman. There story was mainly big news because Garth does have quite a bit of status as the only niner to play on our championship football team; and Jenny was always one of the most popular girls in her grade even before becoming a cheerleader. That kind of combination is what high school legends are made of – except that isn't going to happen in their case. That news definitely had something to do with why Rowen and I weren't interested in playing football with the guys at lunchtime, and with Garth needing to blow off some steam; half of the guys wished they weren't playing either – the half of the guys playing on the other team against him!

Jenny's break-up also had the potential of messing up our plans for tonight too, but she'd refused Rebecca's offer to cancel on us so she could be there for her best friend; and made her own plans with a few of the other cheerleaders instead. That was a pretty good indication that she wasn't going to have any problems getting over Garth – especially since it sounded like they were having something closer to a party than a wake. We weren't having a party tonight, but we did take the night off from studying; and our plans to hang out together quickly evolved into an all-night fun and camping adventure for six. Rowen and I had already planned on doing a sleepover this morning, but we were both happy to change that to camping when Tim suggested that we could all do that instead. He was happy too, though his other suggestion to set up three smaller tents instead of two bigger ones for boys and girls was voted down by the five of us who were sure that we would never get parental approval for coed camping quite yet.

The actual parental approval was easy enough, and even Claire was happy to make an extra trip into town early instead of needing to come back for Lucas at eleven or twelve o'clock. He'll need an early ride home in the morning; but Mom, Dad, or Violet will do that for him right after breakfast. While I'm thinking of her, Violet's doing a sleepover tonight too; with Dillon here with her while the third floor is kid-free. I'll take a wild guess that Dillon is not sleeping in the guest room across the hall from Violet; though his overnight bag did get put there when he first came over at dinnertime.

When we were set free from school, Michael and I walked up toward our houses with Rebecca and Lucas while Rowen and Tim did the rounds to drop bags off at home and check in with their parents before meeting up with us at my house. We had bikes ready so we could go for a ride by then; including one for Lucas and the trailer for Ethan and Ehlana. Mom had been at the lab for most of the day, but had left early so that she could get the twins from KidZone and be home to do some other work around the house while Owen went to help out at the store for the rest of the day and Andrew stayed and finished a job they had him doing on the main office level. The camping plan came together before we went on our ride, and Mom decided on a barbeque dinner for twelve too; though she recruited Dad, Violet, and Dillon to help her out with that so that we'd have time to set up tents then instead.

Our ride was Lucas' first for doing a tour of the construction sites, and while his mother worked on the real estate for the new section of town; he didn't get over there very often to see the progress. Actually, since he's always helping his father out on their farm; he doesn't usually take very much time to just hang out with his friends. That probably had a lot to do with why it was so easy for him to get the okay for our camping – he rarely asks for time for himself when they're busiest on the farm like they are in the spring, summer, and fall. As I've mentioned before, every kid in a small town like ours uses bikes by necessity, but Rebecca isn't an enthusiast like Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I are; and Lucas feels pretty much the same way that she does. Some of the country teens bike to school in good weather because it can be nearly as fast as taking the bus; but Lucas isn't one of them – and not just because he's had to be there for his younger sister and brother. They didn't want to ride the trails when we got to the park after our construction site tour, so we played with Ethan and Ehlana at the playground, and all four boys spent some time on the football field with some of the other guys too.

We had about an hour or so to play before needing to get home, and then we went to work getting two of the bigger tents set up by the river. Tim, Michael, and Rebecca needed to stop in at their homes to pack a few things for the night, so they did that then too; and we had our campground set up and ready to go by the time dinner was ready. Ethan and Ehlana had supervised that work; and we – the teens and kids – took our food and ate by the river while leaving Mom, Dad, Violet, and Dillon in peace; but then Mom and Dad took custody of my brother and sister so that we could have some teen-only time for most of the rest of the evening. We did have to do the clean-up first while the cooks and kids went for a walk and some more play time at the park; but then we went for a canoe ride upriver in three canoes for nearly two hours.

That little adventure was one of the highlights of the day, and though the gulf between grades eight and nine still get in the way at school; that didn't' matter at all tonight so hanging out with Rebecca and Lucas was as easy as playing with Rebecca and Jenny used to be for Rowen and me back before they crossed over so far ahead of us. Lucas is a closet football fanatic, so he gets along great with Tim; and a lot like Michael on the personality side – a fact that Rebecca is appreciating more and more every day. The conversation time while we paddled was a big part of why the trip was so special to me, and while we haven't spent much time with Lucas yet; I am definitely going to make sure that we do invite him – and Rebecca – to do more things with us this summer. Then again, we'll probably be doing that anyway; since I predict that it won't be much longer before our friends officially join the couples' club – though they might also be busy with their own friends then too and not have that much time to hang out with us. I'll keep you posted on how that works out!

The river isn't exactly warm yet, but we were all a bit too warm by the time we got back home again; so jumping into the river for a swim seemed like a good idea – though we didn't stay in the water for very long. We were already wearing swimsuits in case we got wet in the canoes anyway – or shorts in the case of two of the guys. Lucas even managed to survive that swim time without totally losing his ability to do anything while quietly adoring Rebecca; and she was quite happy to get to spend some time with him again when he wasn't wearing one of his usual baggy shirts that did much too good a job hiding the muscles and abs.

Not that Rowen and I were looking too or anything to know that. ;^)

Dad had set up a campfire for us while we were gone, so after putting the extra canoes and gear away and getting changed out of wet swimsuits; we got everything we needed for that and got started on the next-best part of our night. Ethan and Ehlana joined us for the campfire, and that's also when I found out that teen-led campfires can attract a lot of neighborly attention – particularly when the musical entertainment is particularly good. Michael and I took turns playing guitar, but we sang quite a few duets that Rebecca, Lucas, Rowen, and Tim just let us do without singing along. Both the guitar playing and the duets were a first for us at a campfire, and while we had some other teens join us for a while – including Violet, Dillon, Jake, and Stephanie – the rest of our audience mostly stayed at home on back porches and listened to us. As always, singing with Michael is wonderful – and something that we both really love – even when we don't have much of a chance to do that together sometimes with everything we have on the go. Hearing quiet rounds of applause after each song from houses all along the river – including ours – was really heart-warming too; and I'm glad that we could help our family, friends, and neighbors to have a little extra fun tonight too.

Jake and Stephanie helped out with the entertainment too by telling a couple of campfire stories to us, but then they went to hang out with Violet and Dillon for a while when Mom and Dad took Ethan and Ehlana inside and sent them off to bed for the night. Our campfire started to wind down then, but while we put the guitar away; the six of us still stayed around the campfire until it was nearly out – content to relax, chat, and enjoy some cuddle time. That was more than a little tentative for Rebecca and Lucas; but the awkward and uncertain was offset by the thrill and quiet excitement of sharing those first cuddles together.

We put the fire the rest of the way out by twelve-thirty; cleaned up; and got ready for bed – Rebecca, Rowen, and I doing most of that in my room before heading out to the tents. The goodnight kisses time was fun and included a little bonus entertainment when Rebecca took the lead and made sure that Lucas wasn't the only boy going to bed without a kiss. As far as first kisses go, I wasn't watching, and won't comment on the quality; but just the set-up with that being by the river on a beautiful night should make the moment memorable for both of them. I'll certainly remember the kiss that Michael and I shared!

Okay, kisses – but that's mostly because we ended up sitting on the dock and talking for quite a while before joining our respective tent mates again. We did talk – a little; and our friends kept themselves entertained in pairs too; though we were last to make it into our tents.

That was more than an hour ago, and I'm just getting to this now because it took all of us a while to wind down enough to sleep. Rowen and I needed some quiet girl-chat time with Rebecca that was mostly about her and Lucas too; but we couldn't get too fired up about that with the boys right next door to us in their tent. That was one last little blast of fun, though; so I don't mind being up this late – even if that does mean that I won't be getting much sleep for yet another nigh.

It is time to pack up my computer and get what nap time I can before getting on with a busy work and study weekend – starting with sunrise Tai Chi by the river. That may not sound like a very exciting way to either end May or start June, but I'll be doing that work and studying with the people I love the most; and after a day like we've just finished, I'm fairly sure that I'll be smiling all weekend even if we don't manage to have any play day kind of fun. I don't want to be napping during our study sessions, though, so it's time to call it a night. Until next time...

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

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Happy 3rd Birthday, Gwyneth.

I'm sure that it will be for her, but my wish for her today isn't very likely to happen; and her idea of happy is very different than mine. Let's just leave that there, since, while I'm thinking about her today; I don't really want to write much about my precocious little aunt tonight when I really don't have anything nice to report about her. Feel free to check out Mom's ongoing archive about the Hathornes if you want to read about everything we learn from our regular searches of their systems – and through other sources.

Here at home, our day started out amazingly with Tai Chi by the river that was even more special for Michael and me with Rebecca and Lucas watching us from one of the benches – a first for Lucas. We won't mess up his reputation by telling anyone else, but Rebecca and I were as impressed with his teary-eyed emotion while watching us work through our forms as we were with the ease in which he accepted the happy hugs and kisses from Ehlana after we were finished our exercises. Breakfast for twelve was a blast of work and fun too that included having everyone take turns getting ready for the day before and after we all sat down to eat. Michael and I were on the cooking crew because Lucas, Tim, and Rowen all needed to be heading home early for work or chores; and I helped out with the clean-up too while Violet and Dillon took Lucas out to his farm; Rebecca took her turn in my bathroom; and Michael took care of the tent tear-down after everyone else had grabbed their things and headed out.

After grabbing a micro-shower too and getting dressed for a yard work morning; it was time to mow the lawn and do the rest of my usual chores. That kept me busy until lunchtime, and then I had just enough time to have another shower and eat a mini sub and some cold salads before my friends started arriving for our afternoon exam study session. Dad and I had dodged a little rain while working, and another little storm rolled through in the afternoon; but it still seemed like way too nice a day to be stuck inside with our computers, books, and study notes.

It was also a lot of fun!

That statement probably wouldn't be agreed with by some of my classmates; but I really did enjoy helping my friends – and I'm sure that they're going to appreciate that a lot next week when our exams don't end up being nearly as tough for them as they expect. We had some non-study fun too that included an optional swim; some play time in the back yard that Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden joined us for; and a barbeque dinner that Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Leanne helped Mom and Dad with so that they weren't quite so outnumbered by teens and kids. The guys are getting better every year; but it is still scary to see just how much food a gang of them can eat at one meal!

While Rebecca wasn't studying with us, she and Michael both have extra time off this weekend to get ready for exams – and so do most of the teens that work at the Inn. We didn't have everyone stay for the evening study time after dinner, but more than half of our friends did stay; and there was some bonus fun there because we spent some of that time getting ready for the playing test part of our music exam. Everyone was ready to call it a night by nine; so it wasn't long after that before Mom and Dad were down to just six teens and kids in the house – including Michael, Naomi, and Aiden. Michael and I took care of the bedtime story and some girl and guy chat time when we tucked the four kids into bed for the night; and then we got to have an hour or so of alone time before he needed to get home for the night.

Violet and Dillon are at his house tonight – though they're probably till out with Jake, Stephanie, Christina, and Josiah right now, and while that has me thinking about how nice it would be to have a sleepover here with Michael; I'm also ready to get a little extra sleep again tonight. That's why I skipped a soak in my Jacuzzi and most of my usual bedtime computing except for a bit of family business work that couldn't be left until next week. We're doing another afternoon study session tomorrow, and then, while Michael and I are going to be helping out with the buffets; most of our friends are going to be there for Allen's fourteenth birthday dinner party. That won't be play day fun either; but I'm sure that we'll still manage to get June off to a great start – especially when Ethan, Ehlana, and I will all get to do that in the morning with our best friends. I want to end the last bit of time we have left in May in dreamland, so I'd better get right to that before it actually is June. Until next time...

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

June 2014

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Happy 14th Birthday, Allen!

Spending the afternoon studying for exams wasn't exactly best birthday ever kind of fun, but most of us tried to make his day as entertaining as possible while exclusively focusing on our first exams on Monday.

I probably mention Tai Chi way too often in these updates; but starting the day doing that with some of my favorite people is always wonderful – and especially when we're outdoors by the river. Having Naomi and Aiden with us today was even better; and Michael and I had fun working with the four younger kids. Ethan and Ehlana's two best friends are doing pretty well with their Tai Chi, though not many people know that they practice at home on their own nearly every day. When I'm off for the summer break, I'll make sure that Naomi and Aiden both get more chances to stay overnight at our house so they can exercise with us more often than they have been so far this spring.

Since Michael and Rebecca were at our house for breakfast yesterday, I was with them today – which works out really well for me since Sunday family breakfasts at Michael's house are the best in town! Spending that time with Jake and Stephanie was great too, and while they're going to be very busy this summer; I hope that we do get time to do some of the things we talked about doing together while they're home – and with Violet, Dillon, Christina, and Josiah too. Getting time off together for the six older teens when they're working different kinds of jobs might not be easy, but we'll see how that goes.

The top news story for Michael and me at church was a very exciting little surprise for us. Stacey Burroughs invited us to join the teen praise team early so that we could help out with the Fourth of July parade and the summer services that the teens will lead. Normally, we'd have to wait to do that until we start Grade Nine in September, but she has enough teens away, busy doing other things, or moving away from home for college that they need the extra help. That means we won't be able to play with the school band in the parade too; but we're both happy to sing and play with the praise team instead – and the band has more than enough senior saxophone players that we won't be missed there anyway. Our first practice is after dinner on Tuesday night, but Stacey also gave us the music we'll be doing for the parade and the holiday weekend service; and we've both already started working on that already – though not together yet. We'll try to do that after studying and baseball tomorrow night.

Michael had to help out at the Inn to get everything ready for the lunch crowd, but he was set free early to come over to my house for our afternoon study group and got out of the clean-up work. We couldn't do anything to make the actual study material more exciting for our friends, but there were birthday treats for Allen that we all got in on, and a mini-roast for our friend that helped to keep us entertained for the three hours or so we worked in the dining room until Michael and I needed to get to the Inn to help out with the buffets and the rest of our friends needed to go home and get ready for Allen's party at the Inn. While our exams were temporarily forgotten by everyone; I was most happy that all of our friends were pretty much as ready for our exams on Monday as they could be – and better prepared than they would have been if they hadn't worked with Michael, Rowen, and me. There should be a handful of very happy parents around town when the report cards come out in a couple of weeks!

To work at the Inn continued the fun for us; and I really loved getting to work with Jake and Stephanie as well as Rebecca and everyone else. Michael and I took our dinner break so that we could spend some time with Allen at his party, but the dining room was packed for both buffet sittings; so we kept our break short and got right back to work again. Since Michael had been getting so much extra time off this weekend, we stayed and helped out until close; and then I walked home with Michael and his family. After saying goodnight to everyone else, Michael and I went to sit on one of the benches by the river at his house for a little wind down time before sharing a few goodnight kisses, and then I went home in time for Ethan and Ehlana's bedtime story and snack – which we did in the office while Dad was busy with his work there.

Mom let me skip the Magi lesson tonight; we tucked the twins in; and then I hit the Jacuzzi for a quick soak. Some family business multi-tasking got done while I was in the tub, and once I was ready for bed; I spent a half-hour doing a once-through of the praise team music before climbing into bed with Mandy and my computer. All I've had left to do was the usual nightly computer checks and this journal update. It isn't that late yet, but I'm ready to call it a night anyway. That'll mean missing out on a bedtime chat with Violet whenever she gets around to sending Dillon home and coming up to bed, but we should be able to get back to more of those during the week once they're back to being busy with their jobs again.

I'm really fired up about the coming weeks, because if our first day of June is any indication; we're going to have an awesome end of the school year and start of summer holidays!

Until next time...

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

Monday, June 2, 2014

We had some rain roll through this morning, so Tai Chi was indoors; but it didn't hang around long and we've had a really nice day for pretty much the rest of the day.

Too bad we spent most of it either writing exams or studying for the next ones!

We wrote our art, math, and phys-ed exams today; and I can't help but be a little amused that any of my friends have problems with the first and last of those three. I can at least understand the issues with math, even if I don't have that problem; but even top students in art and phys-ed when it comes to the practical side of the subjects can have problems with the written tests and exams. Okay, maybe it isn't totally fair that I've had all of those little facts memorized for more than a decade now and can just breeze through any test when it comes to anything about art or sports history; techniques for any art medium; and any data relating to the science behind phys-ed, but it isn't as though the material is particularly difficult compared to other subjects. I think that it's just that subjects like math and science get more attention because the 'easy' subjects get under-estimated.

That said, most of my classmates were still happy with how all three exams went today; and nobody seemed to be worried about bombing any of those tests. Compared to last year; that's a big improvement right there! Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I didn't study between exams today, but since most of the other teens did; Rowen and I ended up spending part of our lunch break tossing a football around with the guys when they couldn't get enough players for a scrimmage. That was fun, but I actually wish they had been able to pull our friends away from cramming for the next exam. That doesn't really help at all; but old habits die hard and it isn't easy to convince people to change when 'everyone else is doing it'.

Not taking any breaks all day also has the downside of making it harder to switch gears and start studying for the next round of exams. Mom helped with that a bit by having a snack and drinks ready for us when we got home – though she wasn't actually there at the time. She was at the lab with Ethan and Ehlana; possibly because she didn't want to witness what the guys in our group did to those boxes of bakery treats while we had our little break out in the back yard. The dining room was study central, and the subjects were music and science. I'm sure you can guess that science was the top worry for most of my friends – including Tim; so we spent most of the time until our dinner break working on that. We weren't doing a major dinner tonight, but Michael, Tim, and Rowen were invited to stay; and we had an easy-dinner meal so that we could eat quickly and do a bit more studying again before Michael and Tim needed to go to their baseball practice.

None of the 'farm kids' came over again after dinner; but most of the 'town kids' did. There was more science studying going on again, but Rowen and I spent more time on music – both for the playing test and the written exam. Tim and Michael studied with us again after they got back from their ball practice – though we all hopped into the river to cool off for a little break then too before getting back to work again. We had a few extra swimmers with us for that – including Ethan and Ehlana; but the still-cool water kept everyone else on dry land.

Our evening study session came to an end at nine-thirty, and while the rest of our friends headed home; Michael and I took care of doing the bedtime routine with Ethan and Ehlana and getting them tucked in for the night. Some play time for two would have been nice after that, but instead of cuddling on the sofa in the lounge; we had some more music time – and spent that hour working on the songs we'll be doing with the teen praise team for the Fourth of July parade and the Sunday service in the park that weekend.

I am going to love doing that with Michael as much as the rest of the music we've played and performed together. Since that's one more thing that we never seem to have enough time for; I'm also glad that we'll have an excuse to put music a bit higher on the priority list for the next few months.

That was also a really nice way to wrap up our day, and after sending Michael home with a long goodnight hug and kiss; I came straight back up to my room and got ready for bed. Mom and I may try to do some Magi lessons this week, but we're both busy; and taking a week off is an option now and then. Violet got home shortly after I had myself tucked in with Mandy, and she stopped in for a quick bedtime chat; but didn't stay long – she's as tired out as Mom is tonight. I'm not exactly worn out right now, but I am going to shoot for comparatively early bedtimes all week, and since I've pretty much covered all of the news for today; it's time for me to get started on that extra nap time right now.

Until next time...

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

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Most of today was pretty much a repeat of yesterday, except we got more rain more often; the exams of the day were music and science; and the study subjects for the exams tomorrow were Spanish and History. There was no band practice because of exams; so the only change for Michael and me was that we had our first teen praise team practice at the church after dinner.

We found out when we got there that exams got in the way of that too, so Stacey only had six teens to work with – Michael and me; Anna-Marie Palmer and Cal Jennings; and Shane Wildes and Tegan Wilson. Everyone else was busy studying – or at least had orders to study; but we will still have time to get ready for the parade and holiday weekend service – and only Michael and I are learning all of the songs. Yes, we know a lot of them from singing them at church; but we still need to learn the harmonies and the guitar and keyboard arrangements. Michael had brought his guitar, and Stacey had us play for some of the songs to see how we'd do; but Anna-Marie played the keyboard for most of our practice and we went without a guitar for the songs Michael didn't play too.

That was a really special hour or so of musical play time; though I wouldn't say that we sounded great. We didn't have any basses in our little group; Anna-Marie and I are sopranos, so Tegan was on her own for the alto part; and Michael was the only tenor with perfect pitch and the range to hit all of the notes. Stacey wants Michael and I to take some solos and duets already, but I hope she takes that slowly so that we don't upset any of the other teens – especially anyone who has been waiting for seniors to graduate to get their chance to shine for this coming year.

As I'm sitting here now and thinking about spending that time with the older teens; it occurred to me that I haven't mentioned Tegan's name in my journal in years. Even in a small town, friendships ebb and flow; and this is really the first time I've really been around Tegan in quite a while. That's a lot different than my first year here when we played baseball together and she came to my tenth birthday party. Sure, there was the whole crossing over thing that had the same effect on her as it did on the rest of our year-older friends; but then we also haven't been on the same baseball teams in years either; and ran in different circles of friends.

Tegan and Shane are a couple now; and seem to be very happy. They both joined the praise team last September; but they've mostly stayed in the background behind their more extroverted friends. Anna-Marie and Cal are two of those more outgoing teens; so they led the practice tonight. Cal also warned Michael that the guys on the football team would seriously razz him if he 'sang in the church choir' and tried to play football too' but then he seemed to be surviving doing both just fine so Michael isn't all that worried about that.

Moving along, while that practice was one of the best parts of the day, I skipped over having dinner at Michael's house; and should never do that! Even easy-meal nights there are really awesome; and so was getting to spend another hour or so with Jake, Stephanie, and Rebecca. The only thing missing now is an eighth member for the group. This wasn't a good week to suggest that, but maybe Rebecca could invite Lucas to one of the dinners next week or the week after.

I went home with Michael from the church and we studied for another hour. Rebecca, Jenny, and a couple of the girls in their class were studying in the dining room, so we joined them there – though Jenny teased us about having more fun if we'd go and study in Michael's room instead. That would have been true, but not with a bunch of other teens in the house with us.

When the clock struck nine-thirty, I went home so that I could be there in time to do the bedtime story and snack with Ethan and Ehlana. They're actually busier than I am right now between spending time at the lab with Mom; KidZone visits; and wrapping up their freshman year at college with their final exams. My Grade Eight exams are simple by comparison, but helping my friends out and keeping busy all day is still tiring; so skipping Magi lessons and my 'real' language studies this week is making it easier to stay fully-charged and enthusiastic.

That's why I'm in bed already; and should be sleeping before eleven o'clock for the first time in what seems like forever. We still have three days of exams to go, but then the school year will be all over except for the wind down play time and parties. I'll wrap this up on that happy note; so, until next time...

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

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

It's time for a micro-update because I've hopped into my Jacuzzi for a nice long soak before going to bed; but don't really feel much like multi-tasking tonight.

Today's Grade Eight exams were Spanish and History – both a breeze when you have a photographic memory. The better news is that all of my friends were happy with how they did on their exams too.

Our after school and optional, evening study groups worked on English, Computers, and Health; with Rowen leading subject two and Michael and I handling the others. Please skip the jokes that might come to mind about either of us tutoring the other boys or girls for Health class – we heard them all tonight. We might have found all of that a bit funnier if we'd had a bit of alone time too; but that didn't happen.

Since I was busy studying, Violet and Dillon took care of Ethan, Ehlana, and Zack while the parents were busy with their baseball practice; but then they were off and running again to go and hang out with their friends for a while. Violet's staying at Dillon's tonight again too; so it's fairly quiet up here on the third floor – especially since everyone else is sleeping already.

We've had a gorgeous day that most teens around here didn't get to enjoy very much, but the hot weather is making me hopeful that we'll be in for a really great summer – especially if we get past all of these days of off-and-on rain and thunderstorms. Other than writing exams or studying for them, there was a bit of football action at lunchtime and a short swim in the river for some of us after school; but not much else going on. That's also all I have for tonight; so I'm going to relax and enjoy the bubbly down time before going to bed.

Until next time...

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

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Let's start out this update with baseball instead of exams for a change.

I haven't mentioned the announcement of team sponsors and names earlier in the week before now; but getting out team shirts at the practice tonight reminded me that the first games of the season are this weekend – assuming they don't get rained out; since the weather reports aren't looking great for the weekend.

Rowen and I are on the ValleyView Arctic Vortex team – a name that the committee apparently couldn't resist using after its popularity in the news this past winter. Michael and Tim are with Landry's Lightning; while our co-ed team is the Olde Bakery Beagles. I'd say that we won the team name contest for our families; though it remains to see how we'll do this season. Our first game will be Saturday – if we don't get rained out – so I'll let you know how that goes in a couple of days. One really good thing about our schedules this year, though, is that all three of our teams play on the same weekend – so we'll have the same off-weekends too.

That's really pretty much all of the excitement for today anyway. Our English, Computers, and Health exams all went fairly smoothly without many complaints from any of our classmates, and with just one pair of exams left to go this year; it was easy enough to keep everyone motivated after school while we studied for our Social Studies and Geography exams. Mom supplied a sub sandwiches and cold salads dinner to anyone who wanted to stay and work with us until Rowen and I needed to get to our practice; and most of our friends stayed for that – even if they were having something better at home. That included Michael, and he and Tim even ended up staying and studying with a few of our less-confident classmates while Rowen and I were gone. That felt a little bit weird; since Mom and Dad were at the Inn with Ethan, Ehlana, Violet, and Dillon for game night when we got back; but I was good with getting a little alone time with Michael after everyone else left – including Rowen and Tim. We didn't exactly have a lot of play time available before my family got home again; but we did the best we could with the half-hour we did get to have! ;^)

After Michael went home, we did a daily recap and snack instead of a bedtime story; and then I came up to my room to get ready for bed while Violet and Dillon took care of getting Ethan and Ehlana tucked in for the night. I had a bit of family business to take care of; but I'll still be sleeping before midnight again. Other than baseball and yard work, the only booked event we have this weekend is a birthday dinner on Sunday at the Inn for Aunt Grace. Michael, Rowen, Tim, and I want to do another camping night; and we'll probably invite Rebecca and Lucas again; but we'll take a look at that again once the weather forecast gets a bit clearer – or wetter; depending on your perspective.

For now, that's all I have; and it's time to get some sleep, so...

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

Friday, June 6, 2014

Exams are done, and the school year is all over except for the play week! Yeah!

I'm going to skip any other references to the 'E' word and just fill the rest of this report with the fun news.

First up, we took the night off because we can; and there won't be any more homework anyway unless you're one of the few with late projects or assignments. That was good, but adding Rebecca and Lucas to the fun plans was even better – especially once we all had approval for a sleepover at my house. There's a chance that we could have camped in the back yard instead and not gotten rained on; but I'm okay with being in my room instead; and it was nice to have the cuddle time in the lounge while we watched a movie too.

Ethan and Ehlana have Naomi and Aiden doing a sleepover with them on the second floor, and though we didn't take them out to play with us before dinner; we did have them with us for the evening while Mom, Dad, and the rest of their team played their first ballgame of the season.

Make that all of their players but one. Uncle Mark took Aunt Grace away this morning on a surprise thirtieth birthday weekend away from home; so he wasn't able to play tonight. His absence didn't hurt our team at all; and our Bakery Beagles beat the Hair Hounds by a fairly impressive score of eleven-to-four.

Rowen, Rebecca, and I led our little group of cheerleaders during the game, and Michael, Tim, and Lucas spent about half of our time at the park keeping Ethan and Aiden entertained with some football fun and playground action. Mom and Dad didn't have an ulterior motive for approving our sleepover, but they did agree to take advantage of a house full of appropriately-aged babysitters so they could go out to Sheldon's pub with pretty much everyone else on their team and some other friends. Christina and Josiah offered to take care of Zack so that Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne could go too, and Violet and Dillon went over there to hang out with them – and then with Jake and Stephanie too once they were finished work at the Inn.

When we got home tonight, while Mom and Dad got cleaned up and ready to go out; the rest of us decided to go for a fairly chilly swim in the river. It was cooling down a bit by then, but we were all hot and sweaty after either cheering for our team or running around and playing; so it felt really good to get cooled off in a hurry – and to have a little bit of water fun with our friends.

Okay, getting to watch three guys who have been working out every school day morning since January was a nice bonus too; but I digress. ;^)

We had the four younger kids dried, changed into pajamas; and ready for bed by the time Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne stopped in to collect Mom and Dad, and they only stayed long enough for a quick round of goodnight hugs and kisses before heading out the door. Once they were gone, we all went upstairs to the lounge and picked out a G-rated action flick that wouldn't be too boring for the guys while still appropriate for my brother, sister, and their friends. Rebecca and Lucas took one end of the sectional sofa; Rowen and Tim had the other; and Michael and I stretched out on the floor with the four younger kids; using pillows from the alcoves and my bed to make ourselves more comfortable.

We lost Aiden before the movie was over, and he probably didn't realize that he fell asleep snuggling with Ehlana. Ethan was snuggling too, but he was fully aware of it; and neither he or Naomi had a problem with it – even when Tim tried to tease him about it a little before Rowen shushed him. Though they were still awake, Ethan, Ehlana, and Naomi got rides down to the second floor too when Michael carried Aiden down to Ethan's room; and after Michael and Tim spent a few minutes with Ethan while Rowen and I tucked Ehlana and Naomi into their beds; we all went back upstairs and queued up another more teen-rated action adventure flick for the second movie of the night.

Michael and I were on the floor again for that show so that our friends could all stretch out on the sofa, and while that was a new experience for Rebecca and Lucas; they caught on quickly and seemed to be very happy. Mom and Dad got home shortly after that movie ended; and Michael and I were in the kitchen cleaning up from our movie-time drinks and snacks before heading to bed. Rowen and Tim were making sure that the guys had everything they'd need in the morning for when they wanted to hit the showers – and probably making out in Tim's room; while Rebecca and Lucas had taken the lounge clean-up job – and probably making out there.

I so need to start having us draw straws for those jobs!

Anyway, Mom and Dad gave us the condensed pub news report; we told them about what we'd been doing while they were gone; and then we all went up to bed. Michael and I shared our goodnight kiss outside of his room, and kept it short when we heard Lucas on the back stairs coming down to his room after saying goodnight to Rebecca.

Sometimes seeing grins are enough; and words are just not necessary.

While Rebecca was staying in the room across the hall from the lounge instead of sacking out on the sofa; she was still in my room with Rowen; and we sat on my bed for a little girl chat time. We were still doing that when Violet and Dillon got home, and while he went to bed – in her room – she joined us and added a little more fun to the mix as we talked until two out of four of us were ready to go and get some sleep.

Or at least to bed. Rowen and I are pretty sure that Violet wasn't as sleepy as she claimed.

Yep. Okay. Where was I again?

Right – Violet and Rebecca went off to bed; Rowen and I got changed and hopped into my bed with Mandy and our computers; and Michael is in the room directly below me wearing his usual scrubs pants and a smile. I wonder if Mom and Dad would notice if I snuck downstairs and spent a little more time saying goodnight to him?

Moving along, Rowen's been picking out random YouTube videos again while I've been doing my nightly computer checks and writing this; but we've both pretty much had enough fun now and are ready to pack up our computers and have a nap. As of my last check, the Saturday morning baseball games are probably out, and our afternoon games aren't looking promising; but the weather forecasts have been notoriously unreliable over the past couple of weeks so we'll just wait and see what happens.

One way or the other, we need to be up early; Lucas still needs to be home right after breakfast; and Rowen, Tim, and Michael are all working with their parents at the computer store, shop, or Inn. If yard work is out for me; I'll just help out around the house instead. While sneaking down to Michael's room right now is a really bad good idea; I am hoping that we'll get to have a little alone time tomorrow night after he's finished work at the Inn.

With that hopeful, cheery thought to go to sleep with; that's all for tonight, folks; and I'm out of here!

Until next time...

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

Saturday, June 7, 2014

We had a pretty good thunderstorm roll through starting an hour or so before dawn, so the sleepover instead of camping turned out to be a good call. It was still raining off and on by the time we were up and ready for Tai Chi, so we exercised indoors; and then it was girls' day to cook breakfast for everyone. Okay, not really, but we were allowed to pick the cooking over the clean-up; and those of us conscious enough to vote picked working on the pre-breakfast crew.

The rain also meant that we didn't need to rush around to get Lucas fed and back at home; though he did still need to get there – and Rebecca, Rowen, Tim, and Michael all had work or morning chores to get to as well. As mentioned, I cooked; we had an entertaining time while eating our morning meal; and then the boys cleaned up while the girls took their turn getting ready for the day. Once all of my friends had left and Alicia had come over to take charge of Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden; I went to work helping Mom with chores for an hour or so until the rain stopped; and then it was outside for Dad and me and on to getting as many chores as we could ticked off the to-do list before I needed to do a quick wash up and get to the park for my first game of the season with the Vortex.

Rowen and Rebecca met me there, and we were both in time for a short warm-up with Claire and our team; but Jenny was running late and only got there as the game was about to start. Her hair was perfect, and her team shirt immaculately tucked in without the slightest wrinkle showing; so the delay was obviously worth it! ;^)

Honestly, I'm not picking on Jenny – just recording one of the things that I find amusing about some teenage girls for posterity. You have to admit that doing all of that – particularly when you're about to play a baseball game on a recently rained on ball diamond – is fairly silly. Then again, so is playing to win the cleanest, neatest clothes in the park award is about as silly – unless you can get the rules of the game changed to reflect that on the scoreboard.

"Well, Jim, she struck out; but looks fabulous! The umpire should give her top style points for that!"

"Yes, I'm sure you're right, Dave. Five out of five for sure!"

This update has definitely gone off the rails!

Our game was against Ayres' Avalanche, and both teams had lots of family and friends support for the first game of the season. Mom and Dad even had a mini family picnic thing going on so that they could multi-task while watching the game. We kept them entertained for a couple of hours too, but today at least, in the rock-paper-scissors of baseball games; Avalanches cover Arctic Vortexes – by one run. They were the home team, and won it during their last at-bat, so I'm not crushed or anything, but I have mentioned a time or hundred that I like to win; so getting the big 'L' in the record book today wasn't all that much fun.

The good news for the day is that Rowen and I had a little cheerleading squad with us for Michael and Tim's game at three o'clock, and while we can't claim for sure that we had any impact at all on how well Landry's Lightning played; they did rather soundly get the win over Taylor's Thunder by a score of eleven-to-three.

If they keep winning when we're cheering for them, the other guys might even stop razzing Michael and Tim about not only getting good luck hugs and kisses from their girlfriends; but from Ehlana, Naomi, and Sophia too. Again, that is hardly empirical evidence relating to the results on the scoreboard; but all of that attention did have our boys fairly fired up by game time.

I should back up and mention that Michael and Tim were both working, so they couldn't watch all of our game, and with a low score, we didn't use up nearly all of the time we had available; but Michael did catch the tail-end of our game and we had some time to hang out between my game and his.

We also got to hang out together tonight after he was finished work at the Inn; though the dinner rush was already on by the time he got there after going home to get cleaned up first so he worked with Jake and Stephanie until close. They came over to our house too after work so they could hang out with Violet and Dillon; though the four older teens did their own thing in the living room while Michael and I first spent some time with Ethan and Ehlana before tucking them in for the night; and then had two solid hours of alone time in the lounge to play while not really watching a movie.

Future note to Violet, Dillon, Jake, and Stephanie – the payback was funny tonight; but I really hope that you quit while the joke is funny. Also, you didn't 'catch us' doing anything we didn't want you to see – I sensed you coming before you hit the bottom step of the main staircase – on the first floor. You'd also be amazed at how quickly you can recover from partial nudity when using a time-phase is an option. I had my shirt back on before you hit the third step!

And off again once you were all back downstairs again; but let's not go there or it'll be hours before I get any sleep!

Without offering any more details, that alone time with Michael was the highlight of our day; and way overdue. We are going to somehow find more time for us to do that this summer – even if I have to start using time phases every day to do that. Michael went home at midnight because Jake and Stephanie had a bit more fun teasing us and telling him that he needed to go home with them right away before he missed his curfew. They didn't seem to think there was anything inconsistent about ordering him home while Stephanie was spending the night at their house and Dillon was staying at ours. Since we did get to both have a little fun with four of our favorite college teens and still get the alone time together too, I'll cut them some slack on that tonight.

I got ready for bed after Michael left with Jake and Stephanie, so I was in bed before twelve-thirty; but got caught up in a bit of family business work that came up via email; so it's heading toward two now, and past-time for me to call it a night. Aunt Grace's birthday dinner at the Inn will be the top event of the day, but that's also pretty much the only thing we have on the go other than church tomorrow; so it should be a fairly quiet day. I do still need some nap time even if we get to just have a quiet, lazy day, though, so let's call it a night. Until next time...

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

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Happy 30th Birthday, Aunt Grace!

From what we saw tonight at dinner, she did have a happy weekend and day – and the timing was good too; since she's past the barfy stage while still months away from the waddling around weeks of her pregnancy.

I'd give you the news from their trip; but apparently they didn't do anything at all except go out for a few meals and sleep – at least according to the version they told Ethan, Ehlana, and me. They were probably just really tired, but if they weren't going to do anything while they were away anyway; they might as well have stayed at home and gone out to dinner at the Inn a couple of times instead. ;^)

Then again, I don't really have anything to report from home other than Aunt Grace's birthday dinner at the Inn. We had Tai Chi by the river this morning; I went to Michael's house for breakfast there with his family; and then we all went to church. Michael was busy at the Inn today, and put in some extra time after taking most of last week off while studying for exams. He joined Ethan, Ehlana, and me while we were playing at the park this afternoon during his break; and then we walked him to the Inn before going home to get ready for that dinner. Mom and Dad spent the afternoon working in the office, and after going out to dinner; we had a quiet night at home. Mom and I got back to my Magi lessons; Ethan and Ehlana had a study night for their ongoing freshman final exams; and then there was a round of baths for four of us before bedtime.

While it is a school night, I've skipped most of my usual bedtime studies and computing in favor of getting some extra sleep instead. There was a bit of family business work that I took care of while I was in the Jacuzzi; but I'll get back to the last bit of language studies I want to get done before taking the summer off starting tomorrow night; and the archive studying can wait a day too.

It should be a comparatively quiet week around here compared to the last couple, though with just five sleeps left to summer vacation; we should be in for a lot of fun too! That is it for now, and I'm ready to get started on that down time; so...

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

Monday, June 9, 2014

The top news event in the Ridge River area was the official opening today of Dr. Colt Carter's Veterinary clinic at the Ridge River Ranch today. He has already been taking care of animals while the work on the clinic was finished and they had it set up; but there was an open house and mini celebration today; and having a new vet in the area is definitely way overdue.

My day probably wasn't as exciting as Dr. Colt's; but it has been pretty good for a school-day Monday. The end-of-year wrap up officially began today, and whether that meant starting to clean up or just wind down the last week with play time; everything we did was fun. Though it had been cloudy with some spits of rain all day, our lunchtime weather was great for being outdoors; and the boys had a good turnout for football for the first time in a week now that exams are over. Rowen and I spent that time chatting with Rebecca, Jenny, and some of the other girls while the scrimmage game was going on; and Jenny spent some of that time teasing Rebecca about her burgeoning relationship with Lucas. Cassie wasn't the only girl in the group to suspect that the comments and jokes were at least partly masking the 'now why didn't I notice that he'd gotten so hot over the past year' thoughts that seemed obvious to Cassie by the way Jenny watched Lucas as he played football with the other guys – once again on the 'skins' team for the day with an expression on her face of regret.

Rebecca has nothing to worry about – best friends forever rules are very clear when it comes to things like boyfriends – and Lucas is Rebecca's boyfriend now even if they haven't exactly totally made that official yet. Jenny wouldn't even dream of messing with that any more than Rowen or I would do that to each other. Maybe that sacred trust gets broken elsewhere; but not here in Witch Falls – not ever.

Before you go rushing back through my journals to re-read the reports from back before Michael and I were a couple or Rowen and Tim got together; the key to the above is 'best friends forever'. I wasn't suggesting that there is never any teen relationship drama here – if you're old enough to be reading this in my future; then you know that anyway. If you are reading this and haven't yet experienced having a best friend forever – go out and get one! I highly recommend it, and while I think that mine is especially amazing; that's how you're supposed to feel about them – which is pretty much the point that you know for sure that you've found your life-long BFF.

One of the really great things about the last week of school is that there is no homework. Pretty much everyone had first stacks of returned papers, assignments, and project to take home – or throw out if they didn't want to do that – but there wasn't any work to do. After school playing was an option; and Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I opted for some trail riding at the park. We have not done enough of that – or just having some teen fun together without either adults or kids with us; so that was a nice little adventure.

I was with Michael at his house for dinner tonight, and while it's too bad that his baseball practiced got rained out when it started to get wet at dinnertime and was pouring by shortly before seven; we were both really happy with the chance for some alternate fun time instead. Let's not forget to mention that the dinner that Jacob and Jake put together for us was delicious, and that I loved spending that time having fun with Michael and his family; but the highlight of my night was the music and play time with Michael in his room. We practiced the music for the praise team while doing my guitar lesson; sang a few random favorites that we like to play around with while turning them into duets; and then, as Miranda teased us later; we spent some quality, non-verbal time 'practicing the rests'.

We weren't resting; but we were laying down on his bed for quite a bit of that time! ;^)

Michael and I made it back downstairs with enough time left before I needed to go home to have a nice long chat with his parents and Rebecca. Jake and Stephanie had gone out to hang out with Violet, Dillon, and some other friends; so it was just the five of us. We didn't really talk about anything important, but then it was really just the being together that I loved the most anyway. Now that Michael and I are about to join Rebecca in high school, we're all interested in doing more things together again – though not looking like little kids anymore by comparison to her helps a bit too. Michael's an inch or so taller than she is now – a fact that he's quite happy about; and I'm only about an inch shorter than Rebecca.

I know, but even a teen Magi Master has to deal with real life; and it was hard for both Rebecca and I to feel comfortable when she was quite a bit taller than me – not to mention a lot curvier and dealing with puberty issues that weren't something that she wanted to talk about with a 'kid'. It's much more fun now – especially when we can talk about things like her new boyfriend and other important girl chat stuff!

I headed home during a break in the rain – or it at least lightened up enough that I didn't get soaked during the little walk.

Sharing front-porch goodnight kisses to the pitter-patter of a soft rain is very romantic – give it a try sometime!

Ethan and Ehlana were just finishing up one of their college exams when I got home, so I had a little visit with Mom and Dad in the office while they did that; we did a bedtime snack and daily recap next; and then I tucked them in for the night before going back downstairs to do my Magi lesson with Mom in the office. It was after eleven by the time I was done and came up here to get ready for bed; so that made for a late start to my study and work time once I was finally snuggled in bed with Mandy.

She has, by the way, advised me that we need to spend more time together. Playing with Ethan, Ehlana, and their friends is an option for her; but I haven't spent enough time with her lately. I'll get right on that as soon as we're finished school on Friday, Mandy!

As mentioned in my last update, I want to get some work done this week; so I've spent the last three and a half hours studying languages, reading my archive assignments, and doing the family business work that was next on my work to-do list. Michael and I are going to be busy again tomorrow with band practice after school and our teen praise team practice after dinner; so I'd better wrap this up and get started on the nap that I still have time for. There wasn't anything newsworthy via email tonight, and the studying and work was interesting and sometimes entertaining; but I won't bore you with the details of language nuances or facts and figures from our businesses.

I do know that most people find that kind of thing mind-numbingly tedious and dry, so let's just concede that I'm weird when it comes to that area of my life and move along.

We're supposed to have more rain again tomorrow, but I'll be indoors most of the time anyway; so let it rain. Maybe we'll get all of that out of the system so that we can have an entire summer of hot, sunny weather to enjoy while we're free of school for the next ten weeks!

That's it for now, though; so, until next time...

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

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

I hate to do this again; but it's after three and I'm beat; so here's the micro report.

It rained until nearly lunchtime; We spent the day at school continuing to pack and clean up; and Michael, Rowen, and I had fun at band practice – though it turned out that Michael and I didn't actually need to be there since we aren't playing with the band in the parade. Rowen and Tim did their own thing after that, and Michael came home with me for dinner before we needed to get to our second teen praise team practice. We played with Ethan and Ehlana; helped Mom to make dinner; and then enjoyed the family dinner time before we were off and on the go again.

The teen praise team practice was fun, and pretty much everyone was there this week. The parade and holiday weekend service participation was nailed down tonight, and while nearly everyone will be helping out with the service; there will only be six of us for the parade – the six that had been at practice last week. Stacey did the service songs practice first, and then set the rest of the teens free while Anna-Marie, Calvin, Shane, Tegan, Michael, and I stayed to run through the parade song selection on our own.

Michael came home with me, we did a Magi lesson with Mom, and they we did the bedtime story and snack with Ethan and Ehlana before he went home and I came up to my room to get to work. No bonus play time for us tonight! My slightly revised goal for the week is to be finished my language studies by the end of the night tomorrow and then that'll be it until September. I'll have fewer Magi lessons after that too; so it'll just be keeping up with my end of the family business that I'll have to deal with all summer – and I'll have more time to do that during the day when Michael, Rowen, and Tim are busy anyway.

With one more very long day ahead, that's it and I'm about two minutes away from being unconscious. Until next time...

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

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

We've had a gorgeous day, and while that was great for our lunch break and when Mr. Ayres decided that we all needed a little extra fresh air in the afternoon for a while once we'd pretty much finished the school year wrap-up work; I didn't get to enjoy it much after school. With exams finished, it was back to part-time jobs as usual for Michael, Tim, and Rowen; and we didn't even have after-school studying to give them – or me – a break between school and work. The good news is that I got a lot of work done before dinner; so I'm in good shape for that heading into the first weekend of our summer holiday. Not getting to enjoy the hot sunny day instead was a drag, but then I did get some time to play later while babysitting Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden at the park while Mom and Dad were at baseball practice.

I also went for a swim after that with the twins after we got home again and Mom and Dad were getting ready to go out. Michael met up with us at the river and hopped in with us; and then he stayed and helped me with babysitting while Mom and Dad went out to the pub for an hour and a half or so with Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and some of the other players on their team. Violet and Dillon again went over to their house to hang out with Christina and Josiah while they watched Zack. Ethan and Ehlana weren't in any hurry to rush off to bed, so Michael and I entertained them by practicing our praise team music for the parade and holiday weekend service. We did get them into bed before Mom and Dad got home again, but not by much; so there wasn't any major alone time for us before it was time for Michael to go home.

Though I didn't need to do more family business work tonight, Mom still did a Magi lesson with me, so it was after midnight before I came up to my room and got ready for bed. I only worked on my language studies after that – other than my usual nightly computer checks; but it took three hours to get the last of the work I wanted to get finished on that before taking the summer off.

I know, and we've got our play day at school that I'll be doing on not much sleep; but I'll manage – and going to bed early tomorrow night might even be an option.

Maybe – I am my mother's daughter; and something else always seems to come up!

That's the news for tonight, though, and I really want to get started on my nap; so, until next time...

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

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Things were not looking good for our play day at school this morning. A thunderstorm rolled into town not long after I went to bed; and it was still raining when we got up for Tai Chi. We exercised indoors; Michael stayed for breakfast; and then he went home to get ready for school while I did the same here. Fortunately, the rain started letting up by then, and though the school yard was pretty wet by then, and we still had a bit of rain going on while setting up for the games; it started clearing up just in time for the first game rotation of the morning.

Michael and I helped Mom with loading the van with her donations for the play day; and then we headed over to the school with a quick stop to drop Ethan and Ehlana off with Grandma and Grandpa for the morning while Mom was volunteering at the school. She was running the half-way point snack station at the baseball diamond; and her donations included some of the drinks and snacks they had available there. We dropped off some of our donations at the school; picked up everything else for that booth; and then went over to the ball diamond and unloaded everything before Michael and I needed to get to home room.

There was way too much going on with all of the games today to cover all of it here; so let's just go with a few favorite moments or stories. Tops on the list for me was Rebecca and Lucas teaming up for the competition. I'm sure that they had fun playing together; but they also won a lot of games too. Michael and I did pretty well too, and so did Rowen and Tim; but nobody in our class was particularly surprised by that anymore – not even for Rowen.

Playing on wet grass for the first couple of hours until the yard was mostly dried out was occasionally damp, slippery, and comically entertaining; but since a rain day would've meant a scaled-back indoor event; nobody had a problem with that. The contests were pretty much the same as every year, with just the usual variations to things like the race courses or types of obstacles meant to keep them from getting too boring for the older kids and teens. Having fun was the priority regardless of how seriously any particular kids or teens took the challenges, and as I already mentioned; Tim, Rowen, Michael, and I did pretty well today. Our class ranking, however, was fairly low, and while I wouldn't dream of mentioning any names; our quota of classmates that were having more fun with the goofing off than the games was fairly high, and left us out of the running for any overall team awards this year.

Maybe that's just normal for the Grade Eight classes as they are about to make the jump into High School. Let me check... nope; no apparent correlation there – at least for the records during the years that I've lived here. Our class was actually closer to the bottom for annual Grade Eight results.

With no homework or after-school part-time jobs to go to for three out of four of us; keeping the play time going after school was an option. Michael had some time before he needed to be at the Inn too, and Ethan and Ehlana had written their last college final exams for their freshman year this afternoon; so we all biked over to the park for some trail riding and play time. Today, it was the trail riding that was the most fun because we attempted to take Ethan and Ehlana along with us for that with marginal success. Those kid and teen made trails in the woods are not built for trailers, and while Ethan and Ehlana were game for trying to get some air time off of the jumps; we all could do the math and knew that wouldn't end well without a little Magi-powered help that wasn't an option.

Too bad – that would've been cool!

I mean no, Mom and Dad; we'd never try anything so reckless and crazy! ;^)

Anyway, we did eventually come up with routes on two trails that I could ride with the twins and the trailer without any hang-ups; so we'll likely take them along a little more often so that they can do more than just the usual rides around town or out on River Road. Surprisingly, there wasn't any football going on at the park after school, so we wrapped up our play time there. Michael had to leave half-way through that to get to the Inn, but Rowen and Tim stayed and eventually rode back with me so that I had help with Ethan and Ehlana at both ends.

By the way, this will likely be their last summer using the trailer. They're pixies like I was at three – and through to puberty; but it's still getting a bit crowded in there. Next year they'll likely be racing us out on those trails with their own little bikes.

While Rowen and Tim left to go and have dinner after that, Rowen came back through to pick me up in time for our baseball practice; and we headed over to the ball diamond for that with a little extra time to warm up on our own. Tim wasn't with her, but he did get there a few minutes after our practice started; football in hand and ready to toss it around with Lucas – and with Michael when he joined them after finishing with the clean-up from the dinner rush at the Inn. The last game night before the summer break was warming up by then too; which is why Mom and Dad were there with the twins instead of hanging out with them at the park on a beautiful, sunny evening.

Baseball practice went well, but let's get to one of my favorite parts of the night – the after-practice swim with Michael, Tim, and Rowen; followed by some alone time for Michael and me while the rest of our families were at the Inn. I'm sure that you're not surprised that we picked doing that over catching the tail end of an extended game night – even if it was the last one until September. My parents, sister, and brother certainly weren't! Since we only have a short day at school tomorrow, and it'll be all party and no work; Michael stayed to do the bedtime story and snack with Ethan and Ehlana; and then for a Magi lesson with Mom and me. That wasn't quite as much fun as our play time in the lounge, but it was pretty good; and our good night kiss on the front porch was definitely worth remembering!

It's a bit later than I expected it to be for getting to this part of my night, and while all of the fun today was worth putting in the extra hours for; I'm really tired out and ready to call it a night. There are some things that I've skipped – like not really seeing Violet much at all since breakfast while she was busy with other things and spending the night at Dillon's; but I want to get fully charged up again because we tentatively have plans for a first night of summer holidays camping and play adventure for tomorrow. Not all of the details are worked out yet, and Michael and Tim were still waiting to hear back from Lucas on whether he can join us too; but the weather's supposed to be good and I have a feeling that we're going to really get this summer off to a great start!

With that happy thought in mind for when I get to dream land; I'm out of here! Until next time...

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

Friday, June 13, 2014

We're free!

Then again, after feeding a bunch of teens and kids tonight, Mom and Dad probably have a different opinion of that – from both a cost and personal, societal perspective; but you know what I mean – we've got two and a half months worth of fun and sun ahead of us right now; and all is well with the world!

I'll back up and start this report from the beginning in a moment, but I'm writing to you live from one of the tents for a semi-major camping adventure. Some negotiating was involved in making that happen today, but basically we have the kids and younger teens camping here from my family, the Stones, Emersons, Landrys, Bassetts, Nortons and Faulkners – or at least from one family in those clans.

Jake, Stephanie, Christina, and Josiah were all invited too, but for some reason; they all wanted to have indoor sleepovers instead. Go figure! Violet and Dillon likely would have made the same decision, but then they left for Woodvale right after Dillon had finished work for the day to spend the weekend there before coming home in time for Father's Day dinner at the Inn with his family – and ours.

Okay, time to take the rest of this update from the top of the day.

Tai Chi by the river helped to get the day off to a fun start – though technically; it was the good morning hugs and kisses that put the first smiles on our faces – especially the ones I shared with Michael. Breakfast was of the standard-issue work and school day variety; but Michael stayed for that too; so I was a happy camper. School was short, with lots of sweets, and had us starting our summer holidays with lots of time left to play.

Everyone gathered at our house because of the still-developing camping adventure plans; and Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I started setting up tents while waiting for everyone else to arrive. Michael had invited Jessica and Ryan Bassett to join us after finding out that Sophia was getting an invitation to spend the night with Ehlana and Naomi; and since Patrick and Scott were going to be with us; we added Lindsay to the list so that she could hang out with Jessica. He went home to do chores first, but Lucas had been approved for another camping night too; and was bringing Emma and Benjamin with him. Ethan only had Aiden on his guest list for the night; so adding in Rebecca; we have a total of eighteen campers, and we're using six tents. We did the camp setup work first; and then those of us who were there went to play at the park until dinnertime. We had a late meal so that Lucas, Emma, and Ben could join us – as well as our usual Friday night group of parents and grandparents.

By the time we ate and cleaned up, that didn't leave as much daylight left for any major play time; so we only took the younger kids over to the park for a little more playground action before coming home again in time to start our campfire at dusk. We had help getting that set up, but then Mom and Dad went inside to do some work in the office – with Dad already working on getting ready for his week in the city. Michael and I provided the musical entertainment taking turns on the guitar; Michael, Tim, Rebecca, and Lucas did the story time; and the younger kids happily kept us fed with toasted marshmallows and the occasional hot dog.

Kids under ten were ordered to bed at eleven o'clock; so we had a little intermission while the rest of us helped to make that happen; and then the rest of us had another hour or so to sit around the fire and talk quietly before heading to our tents too. There was some goofiness going on after that – mostly with Patrick, Scott, and Ben playing a few pranks that were either aimed at teen couples or Jessica and Lindsay; but then they settled down and there were just six of us left standing – or sitting; since we were out on the benches by the river or on the dock. Michael and I had the dock seats; and while we had fun chatting with Rebecca, Lucas, Rowen, and Tim; we were also happy to get a little bit of alone time after we split up - and our friends went in search of other places to do their goodnight hugs and kisses while we stayed where we were and watched the stars while stretching out and cuddling on the dock.

We didn't have to worry about getting into trouble or anything like Dad apparently did from time to time; but moonlit goodnight kisses by the river really are special. It's a good thing that we should get the chance to share a lot of them this summer! When Rowen and Tim got back; we met up with them outside of our tents; and Rowen and I have been in ours since then – cuddling with Ehlana and Naomi; and keeping warm.

It's definitely cool tonight, and I hope the boys are all warm too, since cuddling with the other guys isn't exactly an option for most of them; but I won't think about that too much right now since I'd really like to be cuddling with Michael instead – no matter how much fun Ehlana is to cuddle with too.

It doesn't feel as though I've really written enough about today to describe just how much fun we've had; but there really isn't anything else particularly amazing to add to this update. We've really just had one of those really great, but not particularly eventful days. That won't be the case for at least some of us for the rest of the weekend. Tomorrow is the grad party for the high school seniors; and Rowen and Tim are going to help his aunt and uncle with putting that event on for Kyle and his classmates. Mom and Dad have a baseball game tomorrow night; and I'll be babysitting for that – and when they go out to the pub after the game. Michael will likely come over tomorrow night after work; so with a bit of luck; we'll get some alone time after Ethan and Ehlana go to bed. Sunday is Father's Day; so that'll be crazy-busy too – especially when Dad needs to finish getting ready for his week in Crystal Springs. Maybe he should think about re-scheduling that week in June so he doesn't always have to spend on of 'his' special days stuck in the office. That won't be happening this year, though, so we'll just have to help him have as much fun as he can.

That's actually my personal plan for the whole summer – to have as much fun as I can. So far – mission accomplished!

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Don't fall off of your chair – or from wherever you're sitting – but I got in trouble with the parents tonight!

Okay, not really; but Dad had fun teasing Michael and me after 'catching' us sneaking back in from a moonlight swim at about one-thirty this morning. I'm grounded until breakfast time, since I'm supposed to be doing that with Michael and his family; and Mom and Dad are going to have to tell his parents about this little 'incident'. That seems especially funny for Michael and I right now – especially considering the fact that we at least had our clothes – or swimsuits – on for the swim. We can't say the same for earlier parts of the night between the time that Ethan and Ehlana went to bed and when Mom and Dad got home from their post-baseball game party at the pub.

I predict a major round of teasing for Michael and me tomorrow.

The rest of the day was amazing too – starting with Tai Chi by the river with Naomi and Aiden for bonus exercise buddies. With eighteen to feed, Mom and Dad decided that it was way easier to take us to the Inn and let Jacob and Miranda feed us stacks of bulk-rate pancakes and what was probably about ten pounds of sausages and bacon – if my guess about how much meat the boys collectively demolished was any indication. I'm sure that Rowen's hoping that Tim will grow up to be like his father, but he could definitely give his uncle and cousin a run for their money in the food-consumption department – even if he can't bench press farm equipment yet.

Speaking of farm equipment, Dad got his main Father's Day gift a day early, and while the breakfast wasn't planned; it did give Mom a convenient opportunity to have his gift dropped off in the back yard while we were gone. He won't need the snow blower attachment for a while yet, but the new lawn tractor does have a bigger cutting deck that made mowing the lawn a little quicker today; and a vacuum-mulching-rear-bagging system that will be especially nice to have come this fall when it's time to harvest the leaves.

Dad did try it out for a while this morning too, but then let me have my usual job back; since he was supposed to be getting the weekend off from chores even if he couldn't skip working on his real job too. That mostly gave me time to help out with the campground tear-down. Michael was the only other teen able to help with that because the Nortons needed to get back to the farm right after breakfast; Rowen and Tim went over to his Aunt and Uncle's house to help with setting up for the grad party that they were hosting; and Rebecca stayed at the Inn to help her parents with the extra clean-up that had gone along with a bigger than usual breakfast rush.

While I'm thinking about Rebecca, I wanted to mention that Jenny was invited to the camping adventure last night; but didn't want to be the only 'single' teen there and spent the first night of her summer vacation hanging out with some of the other cheerleaders. I'm sure that she'll be spending some time with Rebecca today, and all summer too; but it definitely feels strange to be having this little phase where she feels like the odd one out while Rebecca is starting her new relationship with Lucas. Summer is here, though; and there are going to be a lot of incoming boys visiting for vacations and holidays; so Jenny is fairly excited about that!

Exciting isn't the word I'd use to describe my extended yard work morning, but it has been a gorgeous day; so at least I got to enjoy the sun and warm while working on mowing the lawn and doing the usual gardening and other chores around the yard. Going for a swim to cool off and get rid of the major grime before stopping for lunch at one-thirty was good too; and then I was set free for the afternoon – as long as I took Ethan and Ehlana along with me.

Yes, Dad did need to get some work done in the office this afternoon, and that was easier without a bunch of kids running around; but Michael and I weren't the only couple enjoying some clothing-optional fun at my house today – if the smiles on my parents' faces when we got home for dinner were any indication. Whenever you're reading this in the future some day, Ethan, let me remind you that it was too much information for you today too. ;^)

Moving along, while Mom and Dad worked – and played a bit too; Ethan, Ehlana and I biked over to the Inn and then went on to play at the park after Michael was able to go on his afternoon break. We biked the trails; ran around at the playground; and hopped into the river for a swim before going to the Emporium for an ice cream break. We had those treats by the falls; Michael got to have several hugs and kisses when it was time for him to go back to work; and then I took Ethan and Ehlana for another, longer bike ride before we went home for dinner.

We just had a quick meal tonight because Mom and Dad had their ballgame; so we had eaten and cleaned up with lots of time to spare before they needed to get to the park for their warm-ups. It was a busy night at the park with games at both diamonds; but the top event in town was the grad party at the Landry's house. I was short a cheerleader because Rowen was there and helping out on the work crew with Tim and his parents; but I still had fun with Ehlana, Naomi, Leah, and a few other girls who came over to hang out with us while we were cheering for our team.

The only part of the evening that wasn't fun while we were at the park was the end of the game – and only because we lost. Sheldon's Beer Buddies had been in the lead for most of the game – or at worst, tied with our Bakery Beagles; so it wasn't really all that big of a surprise that we didn't have enough gas left in the team tank for a come-from-behind win. We were still down two runs when the game ended on a pretty good grounder catch and force-out combination by the Beer Buddies' third and second basemen. The good news for the Beagles' players that went to the pub after the game – the winners usually bought the first round; while the bad was that they also got razzed about the loss all night – again, as usual.

Michael joined us at the park in time to catch the last couple of innings after a busy night at the Inn, and by the end of the game, we had plans to not only babysit Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden; but to have our three best friends stay overnight again – though this time, we were doing that indoors. That meant doing a bit of running around to get overnight bags while the parents got cleaned up and ready to go out, but Michael and I had our four charges home before Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, Uncle Mark, and Aunt Grace stopped into to collect Mom and Dad on their way to the Pub.

Once they were gone, it was movie time in the lounge; and we spent a happy hour and a half or so immersed in a Disney fairytale before doing the bedtime story with the kids and putting them to bed with some bonus girl – or guy – chat time.

I've already mentioned that Michael and I followed that up with some clothing-optional fun for two; but we were dressed and only having a little cuddle time when Mom and Dad got home shortly before one o'clock. We met them downstairs; had a little chat; and then we all went to bed – except for those of us who didn't and met up to sneak outside and go for that swim. There was probably some other reason why Dad couldn't sleep and was awake when he heard us come back inside again; but let's not go there – or I'll start thinking about Michael being all alone in that bed right below my room and possibly get myself in trouble with the parents for a second time in one night! ;^)

If sneaking out to the river in the middle of the night is bad; I wonder what they'd say about finding us cuddled together in his bed – or mine in the morning? We're not going to find out the answer for that tonight; but I predict we will some day – either here or at Michael's house.

I'd better wrap this up and get some sleep before I change my mind about that and sneak downstairs to Michael's room after all. There isn't anything else important to add to the update tonight anyway; though I'll add a grad party report tomorrow after getting that news from Rowen and Tim at church in the morning. It's been another really awesome day; and our summer holidays continue to start out great!

That fun will kick into high gear again in a few hours with Father's Day Tai Chi here and breakfast at Michael's, so I really should get started on that nap now. Until next time...

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

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Happy Father's Day to all of my favorite Dads!

We started out the day with a crazy-fun kind of morning, starting with Tai Chi, a quick round of Father's Day fun with my Dad; and then breakfast and more entertainment with Michael's father and family. I also helped with getting Naomi and Aiden home in time to do Father's Day breakfasts with their parents before catching up with Michael; so it was pretty much non-stop action for me between Tai Chi and going to church.

With Father's Day being big for buffets at the Inn, Jacob didn't get the day off any more than Dad did with getting ready for his week in the city; but he didn't have to do any work at home – Jake and Stephanie cooked breakfast; and Michael, Rebecca, and I did the clean-up. The food was still great, and we had a blast – even with the work part of the morning. Jacob's gifts weren't new lawn mower and attachments awesome, but he did get some new toys for the kitchen – always a winning choice when choosing gifts for a chef.

Since Pastor John is a young father, he had the day off from ministering to his congregation, and Pastor Martha continued her tradition of giving all of the fathers in our community a short sermon and service for the day. That pretty much just gave Michael and his family more time to get ready for the lunch rush at the Inn, but I went home with my family after church to help Mom, Grandma, and my aunts with the Father's Day lunch. That couple of hours of food and fun was great too, but then Dad needed to get to work; and I went over to the Inn to start helping out there for the three dinner buffets they were doing to keep up with the extra demand.

Michael, Rebecca, and I took a couple of short breaks along the way, but it was a bit of a nuthouse at the Inn today; so we put in the extra time needed to help keep up with the work – just as pretty much everyone else did. For Michael and me, one of those breaks was when we sat down with my family to eat when they were there for the last buffet, and while we had fun with Ethan, Ehlana, and a few other kids; we still kept it short and got back to work after just one trip to the buffet table – and waiting until the work was nearly finished before having a dessert snack break.

One change in plans that was decided by dinnertime was that Mom and Dad won the Father's Day kid-free night sweepstakes; so Ethan and Ehlana went home with Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and Zack after dinner; and I'm currently on loan to Michael and his family. I'm sure that you can guess that Michael and I did not have a problem with that – three camping or sleepover nights out of three to start our summer holidays! That streak is sure to end very soon; but it has been fun.

Not that we've had too much fun tonight – or at least not of the Michael and me alone time variety. Rebecca, Michael, and I were set free maybe a half-hour before the post-buffet work was going to be finished, but that was still at nine-thirty, and by the time that Michael and I got to his house after stopping in at mine to grab an overnight bag for me and say goodnight to my parents – and goodbye to Dad ahead of his trip to the city in the morning; Jacob, Miranda, Jake, and Stephanie were home too. None of us had all that much energy left, but five of us decided to go for a cool off swim before bed while Jacob and Miranda watched us from the back porch and wound down with glasses of wine and a little quiet time.

Jake and Stephanie didn't have a problem with going straight up to bed after that – they're in the same room; but Michael and I needed to have a little cuddle time in the living room first before coming up to our rooms. We still only stayed there until a bit after eleven; so I'm actually going to get this update written and be sleeping before midnight. I have that feeling again that my report doesn't come close to covering all of the fun, but then it's also been another one of those days where the fun and entertainment wasn't anything extraordinary – all of the little fun moments have just added up to an amazing, happy day.

I hope it's been that kind of great for all of the people I love the most – and for everyone else too!

Before I wrap this up, let's take a quick look at what's coming up for the first week of summer holidays. Topping the list here at home will be the annual start of summer shopping trip on Friday, and Ethan and Ehlana's third birthday on Sunday. Away from home, it'll be the McEwan family wedding on Saturday for Tory and Kyle. We're not going to it, but the Johnson-Carrington clan will be there all weekend; and Christina and Josiah will be there for her sister's big day too. Aunt Leanne, Uncle Adam, and Zack won't be heading out until Friday morning, along with his parents; but Christina's in Tory's bridal party; and she and Josiah will be going there on Tuesday or Wednesday to help out with the work leading up to Tory and Kyle's big day.

For the rest of the week here at home again, Michael and his family have the next two days off, so some play time is an option; though I'll still want to help Mom and Alicia with Ethan and Ehlana this week too while Dad's away. Violet's nineteenth birthday is this week too – on Wednesday; but I'll guess that whatever Dillon has planned for her; it won't involve Ethan, Ehlana, or me too much – other than maybe some birthday fun at breakfast or something. Lots of play time with my friends will be a top priority too, but we'll also need to juggle the fun with our part-time jobs too. Add in the usual baseball practices, and the teen praise team practice that Michael and I will have on Tuesday night; and we're going to have a very busy week!

That all sounds like an awesome way to keep the start of summer fun going to me! I think I'll go get some sleep now so I'll be ready for all of that excitement and adventure. Until next time...

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

Monday, June 16, 2014

Our first weekday of the summer holidays has been just about perfect. It was sunny and hot, with just one little late-afternoon thundershower rolling through that didn't really get in the way of anything because we were having dinner at the time anyway.

While I missed out on seeing Dad off on his trip to the city; starting the day with Tai Chi for two by the river at Michael's house was really great, and so was having a second breakfast in a row with his family – this one cooked by Jacob while Jake and Stephanie slept in. Since Monday and Tuesday is the Stone family 'weekend'; Michael had major chores to do all morning; and I helped him out with that so that he could get done sooner and we could get on to the play time with Rowen and Tim.

When we were set free, we put a picnic lunch together; hopped on our bikes; and went over to the park to hang out there; ride the trails; and enjoy the hot, beautiful day. We followed that up with swimming at my house that we took Ethan and Ehlana with us for that gave Alicia a break from the babysitting action while Mom was at the lab with Owen and Andrew. I was with Michael for dinner at his house; though we didn't go over there again until after Mom was home again and Alicia was finished working for the day.

I guess that the little thundershower did affect our dinner plans a bit, since we were indoors for that instead of out on the back porch, but then it was fairly humid and over a hundred by then; so we might have been indoors for that anyway. Whether the rain affected that or not, the food was awesome; and getting to do more family meals with Michael at his house all summer is going to be really great! The little bit of rain had ended in time for his baseball practice; and the ground had pretty much soaked it all up and was dry again in what seemed like moments. While Michael went to meet up with Tim and the rest of their teammates for their practice, I went home first to collect Ethan and Ehlana before meeting up with Rowen so that we could play with them while the boys were busy. Their practice was fairly serious, since they have a game on Saturday, and Ethan and Ehlana kept Rowen and me busy at the playground; so we were all ready to cool off with a long swim after getting home again.

That had been a great way to end the play time parts of our day, but then it was time to go in for the night; and our string of camping and sleepover nights came to an end with a round of goodnight hugs and kisses before Ethan, Ehlana, and I went inside and Michael, Rowen, and Tim all headed off to their own homes. I helped Mom with getting the twins into bed for the night; she did a Magi lesson with me after that; and then I came straight up to my room to get started on some family business work to go along with my summer-schedule bedtime computing.

Even with the Magi lesson and work, I'm still going to be sleeping before midnight again, which is a good thing; since Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I are going to do our first canoe trip to the whirlpool tomorrow. I'm going to get to that nap time really soon, but let's clean up a couple of news details from around town first.

First up, with all of the work and Father's Day action yesterday; I didn't really end up getting the grad party reports from Rowen and Tim until today while we were biking and having our picnic at the park. His Aunt and Uncle apparently put on the best grad party in years for Kyle and his classmates; which earned them top marks for coolest parents of the week. While they were worker bees instead of party guests; Rowen and Tim still loved getting to be there for the party along with the most popular older teens in town; and all of that fun just has Tim even more determined than ever to be a high school football hero like his cousin.

Next on the list is just a minor news item about Jenny that came up at dinnertime today. She's going to start helping out at the Inn again with Rebecca for the summer, and while Miranda's still going to work that out with them; it should be interesting for Michael and me to be hanging out with both of them again whenever I help out there too. I'll take a wild guess that at least part of Jenny's decision for that had something to do with her other summer activities options at home or helping out at the Fix-it Shop – or whatever other money-making opportunities she had available; but I'm glad that she will be spending more time with Rebecca and me too.

Finally, for Rebecca, she's still in the process of figuring out what dating a 'farm kid' is going to be like. I don't envy her and Lucas for that – living just down the street from my boyfriend and getting to do stuff with him pretty much every day is way better than figuring out how to juggle farm chores and work at the Inn with finding common free time to spend together – particularly when getting rides back and forth between town and farm has to be worked out too. Lucas' day starts early on the farm too, so even though his father cut him some slack with the two camping adventures he has done with us; he probably won't get to do that with us regularly either. We'll see how that goes, but if Rebecca starts looking as though she isn't getting enough boyfriend time; Michael and I might just have to get creative and intervene. I'll keep you posted on that.

Okay, I think we're done with the news, and I really do want to be at full power for our canoe trip to the whirlpool; so, until next time...

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

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

I've been doing a bit too much family business work tonight after a long play day; so this will be a short update because I need to be up early and should have been sleeping a while ago.

Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I spent most of the day on a canoe trip to the whirlpool adventure. We had a hot, sunny weather; hot guys in swimsuits; a picnic lunch; and one of those bet-ever kind of days. There really isn't anything particularly noteworthy to add to that – we just had a really awesome time together; so we should definitely plan more play days just like this one!

Dinner for all four of us was with Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana tonight while Violet was at Dillon's; and then Michael and I needed to get to our teen praise team practice after helping with the cleanup. He came back home with me and we spent some time with Ethan and Ehlana until their bedtime; had a Magi lesson with Mom; and then took care of our goodnight hugs and kisses out by the river while sniggling together on one of the benches until it was time for him to get home and for me to come up to my room and get started on that family business work. I got into a project analysis that took longer than I'd expected, which is why it's after one o'clock now, but I did get the work finished; so it's time to wrap this up and get some sleep before I need to be up again and helping Mom with Violet's birthday breakfast.

She's home now too, but Dillon's staying overnight; and for some reason, they didn't feel the need to check in with me for a bedtime chat first.

I'm sure they were just really ,really tired. ;^)

Anyway, that's it for now; so, until next time...

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

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Happy 19th Birthday, Violet!

Ethan, Ehlana, and I did our part this morning to get her day off to a great start, but it's up to her family, Mom, Dad, and Dillon to make sure it ends well too – since the party moved to Crystal Springs for the day shortly after Alicia came over to take custody of Ethan and Ehlana.

After Tai Chi by the river, it was non-stop action for a while as I helped Mom with making breakfast; we had a bit less than an hour of birthday fun with Violet; and then Mom, Violet, and Dillon all got ready to go to the city for the day while I cleaned up with some supervisory help from Ethan and Ehlana. While I'm sure that we would have had fun in Crystal Springs today too, I wasn't too disappointed about staying home either; and sometimes, the parents need to have a night away without kids along. We missed out on getting to see Uncle Rick, Aunt Melissa, Dawn, Chris, and Martin too; but they were only making a flying trip down and back after work anyway, so we would have just made that visit a little more hectic for everyone anyway.

Instead of doing that, I helped Alicia with Ethan and Ehlana for most of the day until we were passed off to Aunt Leanne after she was finished work. We had some play time with Michael, Rowen, and Tim when they either were done work or on breaks too; and spent a lot of time playing outside and going for regular swims. I'm spending the night at Rowen's house while the twins are next door with Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and Zack; but Rowen and I both had dinner with them and then we took care of Ethan, Ehlana, and Zack while we were at the park for the co-ed baseball practice that Mom and Dad were both missing.

We had another dinnertime hit of rain tonight too, but that was once again one of those there and gone micro-blasts of wet that the ground practically opened up, sucked in, and then dried up in what seemed like minutes. So far, we've lucked out with the timing for the wet parts of this week, but if the forecast is even remotely accurate for tomorrow; our luck will run out before Rowen and I get around to our baseball practice tomorrow night. Since we have our game on Saturday, I'd rather that we didn't miss a practice; but we can't exactly complain much when we've had such an awesome start to our summer weather so far!

After baseball, Rowen and I took Ethan and Ehlana for a swim, and had Michael and Tim join us for that; and then Michael and I helped with getting the twins ready for bed before leaving them with Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne and going over to Rowen's house to meet up with her and Tim again. I wasn't surprised to find out that Patrick had invited Scott to stay overnight too – that's one thing that hasn't changed yet even if they are getting past the annoying little brother stage now. Rowen would tell you that Patrick hasn't left that stage quite yet, but she'd be referring to the fact that he still has a talent for messing up her fun. In tonight's episode of that; Patrick and Scott kept our boyfriends busy playing video games and spending almost no time cuddling with us pretty much right up until it was time for them to head home for the night.

They came out on the front porch with us when it was time for the goodnight hugs and kisses, so that put a damper on things for us too; but we were too polite to tell them to get lost.

We were all thinking it, though.

That might have something to do with why Rowen and I came straight up to her room after that; and have been here since except for washroom breaks while getting ready for bed – and why Rowen spent some quality time watching annoying brother videos on YouTube. Seeing that there are many little brothers who are way worse than hers always helps to cheer her up!

Talking about our upcoming shopping trip on Friday helped too – and put her to sleep about half an hour ago. I've been doing some family business work while she was surfing and we talked, but I'm finished the work I wanted to get done tonight; so it's time to go to sleep now too. Other than our baseball practice that may or may not be a go tomorrow; we don't have any major play plans. Rowen's going to put in some extra time at the computer store ahead of our shopping trip; and I'll be helping out with Ethan and Ehlana at least until Mom gets home again at lunchtime.

I'm good with having a quiet day – it'll give us a chance to rest up and be ready for the shopping trip and a busy weekend that'll include baseball and Ethan and Ehlana's birthday party. That is it for tonight, though; so, until next time...

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

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Well, we are getting rain today as forecast, but the good news is that we only had one little rain shower around lunchtime through until after I was home and indoors for the night after both our baseball practice and a follow-up swim in the river with a small gang of kids and teens.

The big shopping trip is in the morning, so I'm going to keep this short and get some sleep so I'll be ready for it.

First up for the day was Tai Chi by the river with Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, Michael, Ethan, and Ehlana while Rowen had some cuddle time with Zack and they watched us exercise. Rowen and I had breakfast with her family after that, and then I spent the morning helping Alicia with Ethan and Ehlana until Mom, Violet, and Dillon got home again from Crystal Springs. They came bearing gifts of fast food for Aunt Leanne, and the timing was great because they gave all of us something to do while that little spat of rain rolled through town.

I was set free for the afternoon while pretty much everyone else was busy working at home, the office, or the lab; but Rowen was happy to hang out with me and mostly have a lazy day afternoon that included some swimming with the boys during Michael's break and a fair bit of doing nothing except enjoying the hot, beautiful day. She stayed to have dinner with Mom, Ethan, Ehlana, and me; and then we went to baseball practice. Tim and Lucas were there and played football while we were busy; and Michael joined them for that once he was finished helping out at the Inn for the night.

Claire let Lucas and Emma come home with us for that swim; and we probably had nearly half of our baseball team there too – along with Ethan, Ehlana, Violet, Dillon, Jake, and Stephanie. Mom and Claire sat out on the back porch with cold drinks and watched the show from a safe distance. I have no idea why they'd think that a gang of mostly-younger teens would be scary!

Oh wait – they saw what happened to the snack offerings after the swim. Never mind!

With a lot of people around, Michael and I didn't exactly get a chance for any earth-shaking kind of goodnight kisses, but it has been a pretty good day considering we were supposed to get rained out; so that one little disappointment isn't really a big deal in the grand scheme of things. After everyone else was gone – including Violet and Dillon – I helped Mom with getting Ethan and Ehlana into bed; did a Magi lesson with her; and then we both spent some time with our Jacuzzis. I took care of some family business work while doing that; and then hopped into bed with Mandy to finish up my usual nightly computer checks. There are quite a few email flying around about Tory and Kyle's wedding on Saturday; but I definitely feel like I'm on the outside looking in on all of that – because I am. Some friends were sending suggestions around for our shopping trip in the morning too, and Rowen and I might be able to do a few things with them tomorrow, but since Aunt Leanne won't be with us for that because she's going to be with Uncle Adam, Zack, and the rest of the Johnson-McEwan clan for the wedding; we'll stay close to Mom and help her out with Ethan and Ehlana for most of the day.

Finally, we're going to have a smaller shopping group this time, and that mostly seems to be due to Aunt Leanne's absence; though there are some other summer holiday timing issues this year. I'm sure that we'll still have a great day; but it will be just a bit less fun without Aunt Leanne, Aunt Deborah, and some of our other favorite shopping friends.

We do still have a breakfast buffet at the Inn before we leave, though, and that'll at least give me a chance to spend a little time with Michael before we leave our boys behind and head for the city. I'd better get started on that nap time so I'll be ready for that goodbye hug and kiss too – I'll want to make sure that Michael doesn't forget me while I'm away for the day!

Yes, I know that he won't; but why let a little thing like the facts get in the way of having fun?

Okay, that really is it for tonight; so, until next time...

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

Friday, June 20, 2014

I love our major shopping trip events!

As I've mentioned already in earlier journal updates, we had a smaller group today than for any of the trips over the past couple of years; but we still had sixty-one girls – plus the one boy in the group; Ethan.

Our day started out great with the buffet breakfast at the Inn; and then Rowen and I got to spend the drive time with our Moms, Ethan, and Ehlana – a little mothers-kids time that we don't get to do often enough. We re-grouped with Rebecca, Jenny, and their Moms at the Mall; and added Naomi a bit later when we caught up with the group she'd gotten a ride with. From then on, it was pretty much non-stop shopping except for our lunch break and a late-afternoon drive over to Wal-Mart for the supply shopping wrap-up to our adventure in the city. I won't bore the guys reading this with the blow-by-blow bargain hunting, mini-fashion shows, or occasional mother-daughter disagreement over clothing choices; but most of that was fun – even some of those little battles of will over the fine line between teen fashion and trash.

I can assure you that Michael and Tim will be very happy with the summer wardrobes that Rowen and I picked out, but if you need better proof of that, and since you'll be reading this in my future some day; read ahead to my Sunday update – I'm sure I'll have something to say about Michael's reaction to the new swimsuit I'll be wearing at Quarry Lake for Ethan and Ehlana's party.

There's a one hundred percent chance that Mom will have a similar effect on Dad with her new summer clothes and swimsuits too, and while most girls my age might have a problem with thinking about their mother's hot factor; I'm really starting to appreciate the fact that she's passed those particular genes down to me. I'll be able to shop in her closet in a couple of years too; so my perspective on watching her shop is changing now too since everything she buys now is something I might get to borrow from her in the future! ;^)

That will mean she'll be able to shop in my closet soon too, though if I actually wanted to avoid that risk; I could always take my wardrobe in the same direction some of the other teens did today so that I didn't own anything Mom would want to borrow – or would scare me if she actually did want to wear some of those things. I won't do that; but only because I just don't like a lot of the clothes that some of my friends do. This is not a shyness issue or anything – I just have my own preferences; and they don't include wearing anything that might randomly show off parts of me that I don't want anyone – other than Michael – to see. I'm sure that sentiment has a lot to do with why Mom and I weren't having any fashion disagreements today – I liked everything she picked out for herself!

Okay, moving along; we had a blast at the Mall; moved on to the less-exciting shopping at Wal-Mart – though that did give Rowen and I a chance to pick up the rest of the friends and family gifts for the upcoming birthdays and anniversaries that we hadn't taken care of at the mall already. Dad met up with us there so we had extra cargo space with his truck; and then we stopped for fast food before hitting the road for home. Ethan went in the truck with Dad for some father-son alone time, and while they went straight home; we stopped in at Palmer's and Taylor's for a quick check of the remaining bargains from their usual shopping trip day sales before Mom and I dropped Patricia and Rowen off at their house on our way home.

Rowen and I had thought about doing a sleepover too; but opted for some post-shopping boyfriend alone time instead. Michael was already at my house by the time we got there – and he'd helped Dad with getting the truck unloaded and pretty much all of the supplies put away. They even had cold drinks and a snack ready for us by the time Mom and I had the minivan unloaded and our shopping bags hauled up to our bedrooms on the second and third floor.

Going for a swim after that was an option too, and Michael and I took Ethan and Ehlana with us for that while Mom and Dad came along; but sat on one of the benches and watched the show while sipping on bottles of wine coolers. With half of our family away for the weekend, there wouldn't have been a dinner and a movie night anyway; but it still seemed quiet by comparison after having some busy Friday nights around the house. Michael and I didn't have a problem with that – we got to have some alone time in the lounge after we tucked Ethan and Ehlana in for the night not long after our swim – and Mom and Dad had gone to bed not long after that.

No, they weren't sleeping at the time; but let's not go there.

We'd still been in our swimsuits when we came upstairs to the lounge, so getting into dry clothes was required before getting to the cuddling in the lounge while mostly not watching a movie. Since we sort of forgot to split up to different rooms while doing that, though; neither of us had watching movies on our minds by the time we'd helped each other get changed.

Just in case I don't mention it often enough – I really love Michael a lot; and it's amazing to get to share all of these new experiences with him. And sometimes, like tonight; it's also flat-out hot!

This is probably the point where parental units reading this in the future are referring back to the 'let's not go there' comment above and saying "Ditto!"

Relax, Moms and Dads – our definition of hot is not quite as advanced as yours – and Michael and I do have our own boundaries that we won't be crossing. You trust us not to follow a pile of rules about our Magi abilities; you can trust us with this too.

I'll still move along anyway; but only because I really don't need to record every little detail about that side of my relationship with Michael in this journal. There are other places to look in the archives if you want to read up on sexual relations between Magi – or with Magi and non-magi for that matter. Yes, I'm adding some information there too; but only because there is so little written about teens in the archives. That's actually a bit stunning when you consider how many millennia of information is in our archives; but then I seriously doubt that most male Magi even considered including that kind of information in their journals.

Feel free to argue that point amongst yourselves; but I can back that up with just a simple search of the archives that shows that women Magi were far more likely to write about personal sexual experiences than the men were – with the obvious problem for those types of records being that there historically weren't nearly as many women Magi Masters as men – even though we currently have a three-to-one advantage.

I'll look that up sometime; but that probably is a first in our entire history. Don't feel bad, Ethan – you're outnumbered; but we all love you a lot!

Where was I? Right – moving on. Michael and I had fun playing together and not watching the movie; he went home at midnight; and I hopped into bed with Mandy and my computer while wishing I'd kept Michael and was cuddling with him instead. There isn't much else to add to this update. There were a couple of email that were updates from the action leading up to Tory and Kyle's wedding tomorrow. While Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and the rest of the Johnson-McEwan clan are celebrating the wedding tomorrow, I'll be doing yard work and then spending the afternoon playing or cheering at baseball games. Michael will be working a lot too; but there's a good chance that we'll get to have more alone time tomorrow night once he's finished the dinner shift at the Inn.

That's all going to be fun, and I don't want to be too tired tomorrow night for that Michael and me time; so I'd better just wrap this up and get some sleep. Until next time...

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

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Congratulations, Tory and Kyle Denninger! I hope that you, everyone in your family, and all of your friends had an amazing time at your wedding and reception. I haven't gotten any updates on that yet; but you're all probably still celebrating as I write this.

The action around here hasn't been quite that exciting; but we've still managed to have a pretty good day; and the weather was hot and perfect for an early summer weekend. The holiday weekend is less than two weeks away now, so we had a big yard work morning here that we started as early as possible so that I could get my chores done before moving on to afternoon baseball.

We had a good day for that too; and Rowen and I helped our Vortex team to a close, one-run win over the Blizzard. We then went on to cheer Michael, Tim, and the Lightning on to a ten-seven win over the Fix-it Shop Storm. Add in a couple of swims in the river to cool off; two visits to the Emporium for ice cream; and some evening play time with Ethan and Ehlana at the park; and that pretty much takes us through until the end-of-day quiet time at home with Michael after he was finished work at the Inn. There wasn't much alone time for us tonight, but we had fun with Ethan and Ehlana until they were ready to be tucked in for the night; we had a little bit of cuddle time in the lounge with Mandy; and then Michel went home comparatively early tonight because we both want to be rested and fully charged to help out with Ethan and Ehlana's third birthday fun.

That's why I'm keeping this short too, and going to sleep long before any of those wedding day updates will hit my email inbox. It's going to be another one of those crazy-busy, and amazing days tomorrow, and I definitely want to be ready to enjoy the birthday adventures with Ethan and Ehlana; so, until next time...

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

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Happy 3rd Birthday, Ethan and Ehlana!

They're having a sleepover with Naomi, Aiden, and Sophia now, and while they might still all be awake; I plan on being off in dreamland a minute or two after I finish with this update.

We've had a really great day, but other than Tai Chi this morning; I feel like I've been going non-stop since then. I helped Dad with the cooking; Michael came back over after getting ready for church to join us for Ethan and Ehlana's big birthday breakfast; and then he helped with the clean-up while I took my turn getting ready for church too and had some hair and dress-up play time with Ehlana. The twins were very popular while we were at church; and they had a fairly large percentage of our friends and neighbors take at least a moment or two to wish them a happy birthday before or after the service. That doesn't happen with very many people, and usually just the most senior seniors around town; but when you're the only twins in town, you get a little extra attention for things like birthdays.

I was right back into work mode by the time we got home; and Mom, Dad, and I spent nearly an hour rushing around and getting everything packed and ready for our trip to Quarry Lake. Michael went to the Inn to help with the lunch set-up; but then he was set free in time to catch a ride with us out to the campground. Rowen and Tim went out there too both for the party and to help out with kid control and the work that never seemed to end. We hauled gear from the truck to the beach; kept a gang of two and three-year old kids busy and entertained; fed a gang of kids, teens, parents, and grandparents; and kept helping out all afternoon – whether that was taking kids swimming or to the playground or keeping up with the ongoing work through until we loaded up the vehicles and headed back to town.

That maybe doesn't sound all that exciting in that context, but even with a lot of work; we still had a really great day. I'd also like to mention that one of my personal favorite top moments of the day was seeing Michael's reaction to the new swimsuit I picked out to wear today. That's not exactly a toddler-rated birthday moment; but I didn't pick my swimsuits out on Friday with that in mind – and Michael definitely didn't have a problem with spending the afternoon with me while I was wearing it! Tim had a comparable reaction to a girlfriends in swimsuits afternoon with Rowen; so I'll rate our summer shopping trip a complete success based on the evidence collected so far.

Getting back to the actual birthday party, Ethan and Ehlana had a blast with their friends all afternoon; and then the party continued back at home with a fairly large barbeque for our family, their friends, and quite a few neighbors and families of their friends attending. While not everyone was back in time for dinner from Tory and Kyle's wedding; Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and Zack did make sure that they were back in time to celebrate with Ethan and Ehlana – even if they hadn't been able to be with us at Quarry Lake too.

I'll take a wild guess that Uncle Adam would have preferred spending the afternoon with Aunt Leanne in a swimsuit instead of being stuck in their minivan doing a long drive; but I digress. ;^)

Then again, while I'm in the danger zone anyway; I'll go ahead and mention that Dad liked Mom's new swimsuit, skirt-wrap, and top a lot too. No additional information is required from a kid perspective there; so let's move along.

Michael needed to go and help out at the Inn for the buffets as soon as we got back; and I spent the next couple of hours rotating between the pre and post-dinner work crews and my dinnertime stint on kid control as we attempted to feed a gang of little kids with as minimal mess as possible. News flash to parents who have forgotten the toddler years – teen boys may be scary when in small, ravenous bands; but at least they do eat everything in sight instead of wearing half of it! The good news for us was that dunking kids in the river to wash off everything from hot dog condiments to chocolate ice cream and cake was an option that we took advantage of quite a few times.

The party was officially over after dinner, but it took a while to wind down as our guests slowly headed for their homes in small groups. Dad needed to go and hide in the office right after dinner so that he could get his work done for morning; but Mom and I still had lots of help from Grandma, Grandpa, and a handful of rotating volunteers to get the rest of the work done; have a little play time with Ethan, Ehlana, and their friends; and then eventually get the sleepover part of the night moved into the 'go-to-bed' stage. I came up to my room once they were tucked in, and since Michael stayed at the Inn until closing; we decided to just call it a night early instead of getting together again for a while.

We're getting some rain now anyway, so getting a little extra sleep while it's wet out anyway will make sure that I'm rested up again and ready for a couple of play days while the Stone family is taking the only two days off they're likely going to have for the next couple of weeks – other than the Fourth of July. The Inn will be very busy for both the week of and week after the holiday.

I spent a little time in my Jacuzzi after coming up to my room; did a little family business multi-tasking while in the tub; and practiced the teen praise team music for a little while too before climbing into bed with Mandy. While I heard a bit about Tory and Kyle's wedding tonight; I was out of the loop for most of those chats with Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne. I'll try to add a bit more of that news to my next report once I do get the rest of the details.

Let's wrap this up with a few bits of birthday news from Ethan and Ehlana's perspective. Without going into a gift-by-gift recap, a top gift for each of them was the new bike that Mom and Dad gave each of them. No, they are not identical or boys and girls versions of the same bike; but they are both BMX-style and have off-road training wheels so that they can ride them just about anywhere – sidewalks, back yard, or park trails. My days of pulling them around in the trailer are going to be over sooner instead of later, and while they could ride those bikes without the training wheels right now if they weren't stuck playing 'normal' three-year old kids; they were both quite happy to have their own new 'two-wheelers'. I guess we'll have to pass on their trikes to their cousins now. Kids – they grow up so fast!

Ethan's highlight of the day might just have been his birthday kiss from Naomi, but if he admitted that to anyone; it wasn't me, and I didn't hear about it. All of the witnesses thought that Naomi's gesture was adorable; and Liz seemed to be very proud of her little girl – even while Philip made jokes about needing to lock their daughter up until she was thirty or so.

Here's a hint for you – oh wait; I'd better not write that just in case my journals for this year are available to you, dear future reader, before the event I'm thinking about right now actually happens. I definitely do not want to spoil any surprises!

Moving along, other highlights for Ethan and Ehlana included pretty much all of the play time at Quarry Lake; the two-cake dessert options that allowed them to each make a wish and then have a small slice of each to go with their ice cream. They did not need to be dunked in the river, but happily went in anyway along with most of their friends; and now I'm sure that they're having fun with their sleepover.

Finally, we don't actually have much of anything planned for the week ahead. There's the normal baseball and teen praise team practice schedule; we'll be having our regular future plans meeting tomorrow night; and I'll have the usual family business and chores work to do; but there aren't any special events booked as of right now. We're also not going to have any of 'our' family home for the holiday weekend this year, so we won't have quite the same load of extra chores – though we will probably give Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne a hand with getting ready for their incoming family. That's going to seem strange, but then Michael and I are going to be extra-busy anyway; so that might be for the best. I'd feel bad if Dawn was here and I couldn't spend much time with her while I was busy with baseball, the teen praise team, and the time I plan on spending with Michael at the Inn while he's busy there.

Okay, I can think about stuff like that once we're closer to the holiday. For now, though, I'm ready to go into nap mode for the rest of the night; so, until next time...

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

Monday, June 23, 2014

I'm going to try to cover the highlights of the day in a micro-report.

Top story of the day – the new apartment building opened today for the first move-ins. Official first month starts July first; but decorating and move-ins have already started. Pastors Lewis and Martha are two of the new tenants; and Pastor John, Stacey, and Rebekkah will be moving into the Pastor's house once his parents are settled into their new apartment.

From our family business and future plans meeting tonight, the news is that all construction projects are either on-schedule or only slightly behind in the case of the medical center. The lab is a bit ahead of schedule; and Mom, Owen, and Andrew will be kicking up their work there a bit more this week as new sections of the building are ready and the computer systems can be installed. There are a few other details that we went over for our future plans, but I don't want to cover any of that here quite yet – most of it is related to future jobs or education for some teens and college students; but nothing that needs to be written about in my journal until closer to when those events happen – or after.

Top travel stories for the family business include Grandpa Grant and Grandma Eleanor's ongoing archive expeditions both recent and upcoming. The planning takes nearly as much work as getting the archives ready for transport and on the way here. Charity and business trips are always on the go now too; but other than keeping up with the news and regular reports; I'm not really involved in any of that unless a trip has something to do with one of the family businesses that I'm managing. Full reports on all of that action are available in the travel archives if you're interested in the tiniest details about what is going on for all of that action.

Here at home in the regular world, we had a fairly uneventful play day. I helped out at Michael's house in the morning so that we could have the rest of the day off to play, and since Mom had Ethan and Ehlana with her at the lab pretty much all day; it was teens-only for the afternoon for us – and Rowen and Tim. We biked the trails; went swimming a few times; and had dinner at Michael's house before he and Tim needed to get to baseball practice. We also decided to have a camping night at his house too; and set up two tents before dinner. I went home for the future plans meeting while the guys were playing baseball; and then met up with them – and Rowen – by shortly before nine. We didn't have a campfire tonight, but moonlight swimming was an option; and so was some couples-only cuddle time when Tim 'accidentally' ended up in the wrong tent for a while.

Rowen and I did not have a problem with the mix-up; though we did vote against a motion to have two boy-girl tents all night. I won'T mentIon any naMes; but one of us was more disappointed about that than the rest of us. ;^)

Rowen and I have been in our tent for a bit more than a half-hour now, and it's only a bit past midnight; but I'm ready to get some sleep. We haven't decided what we're going to do tomorrow yet, but a long bike ride and picnic somewhere is a definite possibility. Whatever we end up doing, I've had enough fun for today; so, until next time...

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

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Michael's second 'day off' of the week started out great with Tai Chi by the river for two and breakfast with his parents, Jake, and Rebecca before we packed up our tents and decided to go biking for the day. We packed a picnic lunch too that included donations from all of us; and then we hopped on our bikes and headed out of town.

Quarry Lake wasn't the immediate destination, but we did decide to make that our goal before we were half-way there. That had a lot to do with how warm it was; and being in close proximity to water was a definite bonus during our picnic and play time. The boys were good with the girlfriends in swimsuits time too; which might have also had a lot to do with why they were okay with the four of us not getting together tonight after Michael and I were finished with our praise team practice after dinner.

I'll find out from Rowen whether she and Tim had more fun than Michael and I did; but we didn't have any major play time tonight – even though we did get to have a bit of alone time after Ethan and Ehlana went to bed.

Let's see – there really isn't that much else to cover. We had a lot of fun at Quarry Lake, but nothing particularly newsworthy happened there. We spent a couple of hours on a long way back for our ride home; went for a long swim in the river with Ethan and Ehlana after getting back; and then Michael stayed for dinner when Rowen and Tim moved on with their own plans for the evening. We just had an easy-dinner night, and then it was on to our teen praise team practice. This was our second-to-last ahead of the holiday weekend parade and service in the park; so we were there a bit longer tonight – or at least the six of us who are on the team for the parade were. We did the parade practice last again so that everyone else could leave once we'd gone through the entire program for the Sunday service.

Michael came home with me after our practice; we took Ethan and Ehlana for another swim before bedtime; and then we had a little play time with them before tucking them in for the night. Mom did a Magi lesson with us after that; we wrapped up our evening with a bit of quiet cuddle time in the lounge; and then Michael went home early enough that he wouldn't be totally exhausted when it was time to get up early and help out with the breakfast shift at the Inn. That'll mean missing out on Tai Chi, but he doesn't have to do the early shift very often; so we can't really complain about him needing to do that once in a while.

I've done some family business work since seeing him out; though I did most of that while soaking in the Jacuzzi. Swimming to cool off is great, but I still needed to wash off a day of riding, sand, and fun – particularly out of my hair. We're back to part-time job work days again tomorrow, but Michael will have some extra time off during the day between morning and evening meal shifts; so we're probably going to spend some extra time playing with Ethan and Ehlana. Mom and Dad will have their baseball practice tomorrow night too, and I'll take care of Ethan and Ehlana then too, but other than that; it should be a fairly quiet day.

That's okay with me, since even the quiet summer days are fun – not to mention that you never know when the next blast of excitement will hit around here! There isn't any of that going on right this minute, though, and that's all I have for today; so, until next time...

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

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

We worked; we played; and now, we're ready to get some sleep.

I was tempted to leave this update with just that first line; but let's add in a few more details before calling it a night.

Tai Chi without Michael was just a tiny bit less fun this morning, but we made up for that with the bonus time while he didn't need to be at the Inn for the lunch rush. I spent some time working on the family business after breakfast, but then Michael and I made up a picnic when he came over after he was finished at the Inn for the morning; we took Ethan and Ehlana with us; and went to spend a few hours playing with them at the park. We took their bikes along too so that we could go for a ride on the main trail with them; and had everything we needed with us for playing in the water too – or just tossing a ball or Frisbee around.

Our park time was followed by a trip to the Emporium; and then some more play and swim time back at home. Rowen and Tim joined us for some of that fun; but then they were off again and doing their own thing when Michael needed to get back to the Inn again. I helped Mom with making dinner after they were gone; and the rest of our evening included me doing some babysitting while the parents, aunts, and uncles were at their baseball practice. Michael caught up with me again before the practice was over; and we took Ethan and Ehlana for another swim after getting home again before tucking them in for the night with separate girl and guy chats.

We did a joint Magi lesson with Mom after that; had a little cuddle time outside on one of the benches by the river; and then Michael went home for the night and I came up to bed. I'm sure that a lot of teens would find most of that boring – except for the cool Magi tricks part of the night – but Michael and I both loved spending the time with Ethan and Ehlana today; and let's not forget that they aren't exactly your average three-year old kids.

Anyway, that is pretty much it for today. Other than our baseball practice tomorrow night; Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I don't really have any specific plans for the day – we'll probably just wing it. I am thinking about Rebecca and Lucas tonight, though; and they don't get to spend enough time together between his work on the farm and hers at the Inn. I'm going to see about helping them out with that little problem if I can, and since Lucas does come to our baseball practices with his mother and sister; Thursday nights could be a chance for us to do something together.

I'll keep you posted, but that's all I have for now, and I'm ready for some quality nap time; so, until next time...

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

Thursday, June 26, 2014

This micro-update is due to ongoing camping action. I'll add more details with the next report.

We worked; played; had a baseball or football practice; and are doing a camping adventure at my house that Lucas and Emma Norton are both here for – along with pretty much everyone who was here for the last moderately large camping night with teens and kids.

I'm heading out of the tent again for a late-night swim with the rest of the teens; so that's it for now – I have to get back to the fun!

Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!

Friday, June 27, 2014

First up, I'd like to have a little talk with weather forecasters everywhere.

I'm not mad or anything, and the rain didn't seriously mess up our camping adventure last night, but people do make these decisions with the information at hand; and when you forecast a low chance of rain – particularly when we're only talking about hours into the future – we don't expect to get rained on. There were no tent floods, we didn't need to carrying everything indoors in the middle of a deluge, and the river didn't overflow its banks and sweep us downriver and over the falls in our sleep; but some of us didn't get much sleep after staying up late and then getting to listen to the pitter-patter of rain on the tents and the occasional rumble of thunder here and there.

That little commentary is mostly because I really hope you do better with your forecast again because some of us are giving you another chance tonight; so don't mess it up – we need to get some sleep!

Before I get to the news from today; let's back up and do a better job with the action from Thursday. The day started out great with Tai Chi; Michael stayed for breakfast; and then pretty much everyone else except me was off and running for the morning. Dad went to the office; Mom and Violet went to the lab and took Ethan and Ehlana with them; and Michael, Rowen, and Tim were all busy for all or most of the morning. Alicia started out her day with the usual twin-related chores while they were with Mom anyway, so I did some work around the house too while she was there; but then I worked in the office after she went over to the lab too; doing some family business jobs while waiting for Rowen to be set free.

Mom brought a small gang home from the lab for lunch; Rowen and I joined her for that; and then we spent the afternoon playing with Michael and Tim – or at least with both of them when Michael was on his afternoon break. We didn't have the twins with us for that; and enjoyed the teen time and more extreme biking on the trails in the woods at the park. We haven't gotten to do that nearly as much this summer as last year so far; but then we're also not doing a repeat of our trick riding act in the parade this year either so we don't have as much motivation to do that.

Tim, Rowen, and I took care of most of the camp set-up after Michael went back to the Inn, but he headed home for dinner while Rowen stayed to have dinner with me before we went to baseball practice. The only thing I want to mention from that action at the park is that Jenny seemed to be feeling a bit left out tonight with yet another camping adventure that she didn't want to join us for while she's single and the rest of the teens were paired up. Maybe it's time for a girls' night camping or sleepover adventure. I'll talk to Rowen and Rebecca about that after the holiday weekend. Maybe we'll do that one night while Dawn's here for her holiday with us.

Moving along, the baseball practice went good, and though we aren't going to have a practice next Thursday because the Fourth of July is on Friday and we're all too busy with other obligations; I think we're ready for our holiday weekend game. I don't know if Lucas' father is that thrilled with these camping nights when it means that Lucas gets a late start on his morning chores; but Claire is definitely for them; so we aren't going to have any problems getting Lucas and Emma approved for these Thursday night camping adventures. I'm thinking about making them a weekly event this summer – next week excluded due to the holiday.

So the camping adventure began after baseball practice ended. Michael and I collected Jessica, Ryan, and Sophia on our way home; Patrick, Scott, and Lindsay were already there by then and had another tent set up; and Mom and Dad happily handed over custody of Ethan, Ehlana. Naomi, and Aiden to us for the rest of the night.

We went for a swim; played in the back yard; and had a little campfire before putting the younger kids to bed in the tents. The teen time after that was mostly fun with some interruptions from Patrick and Scott now and then – though their goofiness was mostly geared toward impressing the older guys or annoying Emma, Jessica, and Lindsay. The midnight swim we hopped into the river for after I wrote my micro-update last night was a blast of quiet fun; and then I wrapped up my night with some river-side cuddle time with Michael before we eventually split up and went to bed in our respective tents.

The rain started not all that long after that, and lasted for a couple of hours off and on; so I only had a little nap before that and then maybe an hour and a half after before it was time to get up for Tai Chi. That was a fun start to the morning; and then it was all crazy-busy for a while as we fed a gang of kids and teens; Violet and Dillon helped out with some transportation out to the Norton farm or other points of interest – like KidZone; and we cleaned up about half of the campground.

Oh, did I mention that Violet and Dillon were doing a sleepover last night while there weren't any kids in the house? I'm fairly sure that they're going to like Thursday night camping adventures as much as we do! ;^)

Michael, Rowen, and Tim stayed to help out with the work after breakfast, but then they all moved on to other chores or work for the rest of the morning. While they were busy; I did some chores around the house to get a head start on the work for Saturday – including mowing the lawn. Michael was at the Inn today for lunch and dinner because he's getting the afternoon and evening off tomorrow for Joshua's birthday party; but we still had some afternoon play time with Rowen and Tim during his break and he was back with me again in time for our little camping campfire.

He did miss out on dinner and a cooking night at Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne's house, but that actually worked out pretty well for me because it gave me more time to spend with my aunts, uncles, and cousins that I might have had if we'd been able to do that together – especially since Rowen and Tim probably would have been with us too if Michael had been on his usual Friday night off.

I especially liked getting to spend some time with Christina and Josiah – and Violet and Dillon. There's never enough time for everyone, though; and I still haven't gotten to spend as much time with Aunt Grace, Uncle Mark, Aunt Deborah, and Uncle Nick as I'd like to do lately. That seemed especially weird tonight with Uncle Nick as I realized that I'd gone from seeing him practically every day until school was out for the summer to hardly at all. Part of that was because he was still at school with the other teachers last week; but it still felt strange tonight while actually paying attention to that – and admit that I hadn't really thought about it at all since being set free from school for the summer.

Apparently Magi Masters are not immune to getting caught up in the normal, self-centered life of a teen, but don't tell anyone – it might ruin our reps! (That's a joke – I don't actually care about my reputation at all the way some teens do.)

The dinner and cooking night was mostly to help Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, Uncle Nick, and Aunt Deborah with getting meals ready for the holiday weekend incoming family. It's a 'home' year for them; but an 'away' weekend for the Proctor-Rice clan. Hanging out together tonight was also because we won't be doing that with Uncle Mark, Aunt Grace, Violet, or Dillon next weekend. They'll all be away for the holiday weekend too – either in Granite Park or Woodvale. I'm glad that we got to hang out together – even though I didn't get to spend a lot of time actually talking with my aunts and uncles while we were all busy.

While I'm thinking about them; I'm way overdue for a family pregnancy update. Aunt Grace and Aunt Deborah are both through their first trimester now; and their first and second pregnancies are both going great. Being pregnant during the hot summer months might not be something that a lot of women would prefer for timing, but going through that during the second trimester might actually be the best time – you're not hot and barfy like you'd be in the first trimester; and not so big and uncomfortable all of the time like you would be in the third trimester. The only news there that really matters, though, is that my favorite expecting moms and their babies are doing fine; and they're very happy right now.

The real fun for them – and some of us – is just around the corner; but I'll have more on that later this summer.

My cooking play time ended when Michael was finished at the Inn and he came over to meet up with me – and with Rowen and Tim – so that we could move on to our second camping night in a row. We only have Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden with us tonight, and while we had time for a swim and some campfire fun with them; they were all sleeping in our tents before eleven o'clock. Michael, Rowen, Tim, and I stayed up and around our little fire until after midnight; followed that up with another swim; and then some riverside chat and cuddle time.

Rowen and I are in our tent with Ehlana and Naomi now, but we're still winding down while I'm doing this – and the rest of my usual nightly computing that's already done now – and she's been checking out YouTube teen campfire videos. It is late, and we do have a major birthday party to go to tomorrow afternoon and evening; so we should probably wrap this up and get to sleep. It's been another really great day, and while our little family and friends adventures might seem boring to a lot of teens; it seems to me as though every day of our summer holidays so far has been amazing and exactly the best-ever-so-far kind of fun I'd hoped that we'd have.

With Joshua's party tomorrow; that trend should be continuing; and I am really going to enjoy sharing all of that fun with Michael and our friends. That's it for tonight, though; so, until next time...

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

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Happy 14th Birthday, Joshua!

I'll get started on the birthday party news in a minute, since that was where most of the news from today happened for me; but let's start this update from the beginning.

Thank-you, weather forecasters, not only for not messing up last night and actually correctly predicting that we wouldn't get rained on for our second sleepover; but also for messing up the forecast for the rest of the day. Yes, we did get a couple of little thundershowers this afternoon at Joshua's party, but not the all-afternoon, all-evening weather event you predicted.

See? Sometimes Mother Nature surprises to the good side; and I'll be the first to admit that I rarely complain about weather forecasts when they predict bad weather that doesn't end up happening. It's much easier to adjust a plan to deal with a sudden outbreak of sunshine than it is to deal with unexpected storms. It's late, though, and we've had way too much fun today for me to get into another diatribe about one of the few jobs in the world you can work at with such lousy success rate where you can actually keep your job despite being wrong so much of the time.

So, first up this morning after our early morning campground wake-up call was Tai Chi by the river; followed by a camp tear-down while Mom and Dad cooked breakfast. Michael, Tim, and Rowen all needed to leave after we ate and finished cleaning up, but Naomi and Aiden both stayed until they were picked up by a parent a bit later in the morning. Dad and I were on outdoor chore duty for the rest of the morning; and while getting the lawn mowed yesterday helped out with that; it really only gave me more time to do other work – like weeding the gardens and planting some new flowers. I worked until twelve-thirty; hopped into the river to cool off and get the worst of the dirt washed away; and then had lunch before getting ready for Joshua's party.

I can't say much about bigger and better birthday parties, since my parents have made mine fairly amazing since I moved here, but I do want to begin this birthday party report by mentioning that I really love just having a fun, family and friends play day kind of party like Joshua's parents put on for him. His party last year was special because Michael and I sort of were, but not quite yet officially 'dating'; and this year's edition was very different because we're no longer in the social doghouse like we were last year. We also had more time to party, since the party was on a Friday last year.

Joshua does live on a farm, though, and the work gets done first before the play time; so the party didn't start until three – with some social time ahead of that starting at two-thirty while the set-up was still going on. That meant that I both had time to get ready for the party and that the first round of thundershowers had come and gone by the time Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I got our ride out to the Parker farm. We were the first non-family teens there, and that was a bit of déjà vu from last year too as we spent that time hanging out with Joshua and Sally; and helped out with a bit of the work – mostly setting up the games.

One other thing that didn't change from last year was how popular Michael, Rowen, and I were with the younger kids – particularly with Joshua's sister, Gabrielle. This year, Rowen and I had her – and her best friend, Wendy Wilson – around us a lot. They're both ten going on eleven now, and while they haven't 'crossed over'; we're apparently not too scary with how we act around our boyfriends compared to their older siblings and other teens. There were a few jokes about that today, but I honestly don't mind that any more than I'd ever have a problem with Ethan, Ehlana, and their friends wanting to hang out with us. Rowen can't say the same thing about Patrick, since there have been a lot of moments in the past when she'd have seriously considered offers to trade him in for a less-annoying model; but he is getting better – and Gabrielle and Wendy weren't being annoying. They just wanted to have fun; and maybe feel a little more grown up instead of being lumped in with the younger kids.

I'm sure that everyone can relate to that particular progression into the land of tween.

Getting back to the actual party news, the first thing I should mention is that Joshua's – and Sally's – families are huge high school football fans. No surprise there with boys from both families on the team last season; but that did mean that Michael and Tim were bound to be talking football a lot today – and playing too. All of the boys, and their fathers, are not particularly optimistic about the prospects for our team this season without Kyle and the other graduating seniors; but Joshua's and Sally's brothers are already talking about bonus summer training to get ready for the season anyway – news that definitely caught Tim's interest.

Since we're there anyway; let's get the football part of the party news out of the way now. The first scrimmage started shortly after the party did anyway; though that was just of first of several mini-matches. Joshua's brother, Ray, and Sally's brothers, Alex and Mark, are all big guys – though Mark is only going on sixteen, and not quite as big as the two older guys quite yet. Joshua's brother has dreams of being the star quarterback on our school team; though he's really been sort of an all-purpose player in his first year on the team. I doubt that even he thinks that he has a real shot at beating Jeff Morris out for the job this coming season – if for no other reason than that Jeff does have the distinction of quarterbacking last year's championship team. Short of a season-ending injury; Jeff will be our quarterback again – and probably team captain.

Now that'll be a job with big shoes to fill! Hopefully there's enough money in the budget to sew a 'C' on Jeff's jersey too; since he'd need to wrap Kyle's old one around himself two or three times to get it to fit.

I'm getting side-tracked; since the point I was going to make had more to do with how Michael, Tim, Joshua, and the other guys our age stacked up against the older guys. Tim isn't the only soon-to-be high school freshman who wants to play on the team this year, but if any of the guys in our class are going to be ready by August; Michael and Tim will be at the top of the list. I can also tell you that after today, Tim doesn't think that they're quite there yet.

I predict that Michael will be doing extra football training all summer – though probably not until after the holiday weekend.

Rowen, Sally, Gretchen, and I played some football too when the second match of the afternoon was open to anyone – including the kids and girls. I have no intention of trying out for the team and trying to break any feminist barriers in sports; but I did do pretty well this afternoon throwing the ball to Michael, Tim, and a few of the other guys on our team. Rowen out-ran a few of the guys on the half-dozen plays she was our running back for; though she'd be the first to admit that her goal was to get out-of-bounds before getting caught – even if she had a couple of good runs to get there.

Hint to most football playing guys: pay more attention in math class. Even in touch football, you're going to lose if you don't understand basic geometry and physics.

Okay, that's enough football for me tonight. Let's get on with the rest of the party action.

In addition to the football, our afternoon activities included swimming in the pond; playing the other usual summertime yard games; and just having fun together whether playing or sitting around and talking with our friends. I haven't mentioned it in my journal before, mostly because it's just one of those obvious things to everyone who lives in and around our little town; but Sally's family was at the party because her mom, Cora, is best friends with Joshua's mother, Mary-Ellen. Their father's are close friends too; though their friendship developed more through their wives – and from the shared farming and football interests since they weren't in the same grade in school while their girls were. I bring that up because I should do that more in these journals for Magi reading this far enough into the future that they'd have to look up family connections; and because I really like Sally's and Joshua's parents. They don't run in the same circles with my parents, or Michael's; but their sense of family and priorities is exactly the same – which is why I feel right at home at either the Parker or Reynolds farms.

There was more déjà vu at dinnertime when Michael and I ended up sitting with Gabrielle and Wendy; but we also had four other friends with us this year – Gretchen, Brock, Lily, and Kris. That made Michael and I the only 'couple' at our table, but it also wasn't a coincidence that the other four teens were at our table in pairs. There is definitely some potential romantic interest going on there – particularly with Gretchen and Brock. He's showing all of the signs of being very cautious about starting a new relationship after his break-up on the Washington trip with Nora; but that might be exactly why Gretchen is so interesting to him – because she's absolutely nothing at all like Nora.

Hanging out with Gretchen sure earned Brock some attention from Nora – and from Gretchen's last boyfriend too. Elliott hadn't dated anyone seriously since they broke up last March, but he seemed to have a problem with the fact that Gretchen was finally showing some interest in other guys after enjoying being single for three months. I wouldn't say that seeing Gretchen and Brock together pushed Nora and Elliott together; but they did seem to be talking to each other more often than they normally would after dinner tonight.

I could add something to that; but I'd hate to spoil the surprise.

While we are on the teen drama scene, though, Lily and Kris were having fun together today, but weren't getting too cozy. Lily did just break up with Marc, though, so even though that wasn't a messy break-up or anything; she's probably trying not to rock the social boat by making it look as though getting together with Kris had anything to do with ending things with Marc. There is other teen dramas going on – we do have other single teens right now with all of the spring break-ups; but nothing imminent enough to report quite yet – or at least as far as anyone looking at the current events knows without having any future insight.

Honestly, I'm just glad that Michael and I will not have any starring roles in any of those upcoming high school teen dramas. He's mine – so hands off, girls! ;^)

The dinner menu was standard barbeque fare with a couple of cake options and copious quantities of ice cream for dessert. Joshua had a lot of gifts to open, so that took a while; but cash and gift cards do seem to be getting much more popular this year as gifts for teens. I don't personally like doing that; but then I do have some advantages when it comes to things like that; so I'm pretty good at picking gifts for people.

I skipped mentioning the second little thundershower that rolled through here this afternoon, but only because those of us who were already wet from swimming didn't care; and since the forecast had been for rain anyway; one of the barns had been set up for an indoor dinner if needed; so there was a big place for everyone to go to get out of the rain if they wanted to do that. When it cleared up again after the rain, it only took a few minutes to move tables and chairs out of the barn.

The post-dinner clean-up was a group effort that teens were 'encouraged' to help out with; and then it was time to get back to the fun and games until the campfire started at dusk. Rowen and I mostly played with Gabrielle, Wendy, and some of the other kids and teen girls while the boys had another football match; and then most of us went swimming to cool off again before settling in for the campfire. Michael and I weren't the only guitar players in the group tonight; but we were two of the favorites – especially when we added in a few duets that had some of the adults and teens dancing near the fire and everyone else sitting back and enjoying the show instead of singing along.

We weren't officially having a dance; but Michael and I danced a couple of times too after most of the kids and adults went home at eleven o'clock and Ray put some canned music on for us to listen to instead of doing any more campfire songs. The spooky stories got scarier once the young kids were gone, though; and we had a blast hanging out with our friends. Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I also had a later curfew than last year – we got to stay at the party until it ended shortly after one o'clock. In fact, we were even four of the last to leave – partly because Mom and Dad had gone out too and were designated drivers for their friends. They did a run out to a pair of farms first; and then picked us up on the way home. Babysitting services weren't at our house tonight, and Ethan and Ehlana are staying at the Seager house overnight; so I had time to say goodnight to Michael in a lengthy, non-verbal sort of way while Mom and Dad did one more run to the pub for the rest of their friends – including Miranda and Jacob. Michael went home with them after that, and I came up to my room to have a shower and go to bed.

That meant taking the extra time to dry my hair, but I seriously needed the shower before even thinking about getting into my bed. How do I know that? Many suggested that I sleep on the sofa if I didn't; because she didn't want to end up with any farm dirt in her beautiful fur coat.

The things we do for our cats!

With all of that, it was after three by the time I climbed into bed, and though I am tired; it's taken a while to wind down. I did a bit of family business work and my usual nightly computer checks before getting around to this update, and while I may not drop right off to sleep after I put my computer away for the night; I'd better try to get started on the nap I still have time for before we need to get up for Tai Chi and whatever Sunday adventures we have ahead of us. We don't have anything specifically planned, but that's actually okay with me – I could use a rest-up day right about now before getting into all of the fun we're going to have heading into the holiday weekend.

Okay, I obviously have nothing to add to this update now; so, until next time...

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

Sunday, June 29, 2014

This has been the hottest day of the year so far; and everyone working at the Inn got to have a reminder of just how hot that can be in the summer – even with air conditioning. I know this because I was there and hanging out with Rebecca, Jenny, Michael, and everyone else during the buffet shift.

Before I get to that, though; let's cover the rest of the news for the day.

Tai Chi for four this morning was awesome; and then Mom and Dad got a surprise invitation to go with me to the Stone's house for their Sunday morning family breakfast. That was an extra-special hour or so of family fun, and though Ethan and Ehlana had fun with Aiden, Naomi, and her family too; I still felt a little sad that they missed out on the great food and play time with Mom, Dad, and me.

We made up for that after church with a family barbeque lunch at our house, and while Dad had some work to get done; he waited to do that until after I went to help out at the Inn, and spent the rest of the afternoon playing with Mom, Ethan, Ehlana, and me. By the way, did I mention it was fairly hot today? Our afternoon play time included a lot of floating around and playing in the river with just a bit of park playground time and an ice cream cone run to the Emporium that was timed so that Michael could join us for that. Rowen and Tim were doing their own family things today – and together – so we didn't see them much except at church and for a couple of minutes while they were at the Inn for dinner with his family.

The hours of work at the Inn were pretty much all of the crazy-busy variety. It wasn't an 'all-hands-on-deck' day; but since nearly every campground in the area was full for the Fourth of July holiday week; the dining room was packed; and there wasn't really an early-late buffet – just one continual one with tables being turned over as quickly as possible. That also meant just keeping the food coming continually, and while buffets were a bit easier in that the menu is a specific number of dishes each week; it's still a daunting amount of work to feed what ended up being more than five hundred customers. There are probably lots of big city restaurants where five hundred would be a quiet night – not including fast food joints that live on volume; but that is a lot of customers for the Inn.

There was a need for extra heat-relief breaks today too, so while I'm not actually employed there or on the schedule; Miranda and Jacob were glad to have the extra hands to help out while making sure that nobody got over-heated or over-worked in the kitchen. That was a bit easier for the servers who were able to stay cooler in the dining room; but it was a tough shift for everyone. It didn't even help to go outside on breaks – it was too hot to cool down. Jumping in the river would have been nice; but not very comfortable when it came time to go back to work again in wet clothes.

Mom, Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana were having a quiet evening at home, and I was occasionally tempted to call it a night early once the last of the food had gone out to the dining room; but couldn't bring myself to leaving everyone else there to finish the job and just walking away – even though nobody would have minded. I have been running all day on just a couple of hours of sleep, though, so once we were finished at the Inn; the only thing I was interested in doing with Michael – or anyone else – was hopping in the river for a cool-down swim before going home to bed.

Michael and I did that at my house, and while we certainly weren't alone in the river; we weren't bothered by the gang over at his house either. We swam for a half-hour; spent a little cuddle time on the dock before deciding that I was too tired and it was too hot out to do that; and then Michael went home for the night and I came up to my room. There was a stop in the office on the way through, and Ethan and Ehlana were still up; but I only stayed for a round of hugs and kisses before continuing on up here.

Another bedtime shower was in order, though not mandated by my cat this time; so that took another fifteen minutes – including drying my hair. I know, that's impossible; but it isn't when you're a Magi Master and cheat with a little time-phasing. I've only been in bed for about two 'real-time' minutes now, but continued the time-phase so that I could get my nightly computer checks and this update done.

I'm there now, and really need to crash and get a decent night of sleep, so that's all for now; and, until next time...

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

Monday, June 30, 2014

Happy 2nd Anniversary, Grandpa Grant and Grandma Eleanor! They're celebrating elsewhere today; but will be home in time for the holiday weekend.

The last day of June has been another summer-hot, beautiful scorcher. Thanks to Jake and Stephanie, it was also another amazingly fun day too. They offered to take a bunch of us out to Quarry Lake for a lunch picnic and afternoon play day; and most of us ended up getting to stay and play until dark when most of our families decided that having dinner and a play evening there after work was a good plan too for beating the heat.

We started the day with Tai Chi by the river, and then Michael and I split up for breakfast; but then I went to help out at his house with the 'weekend' chores for the morning so that we could go to Quarry Lake earlier than we would have if the work there had taken longer. While Mom was busy at the lab today, she had Violet help out with the driving so that Michael and I could take Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden with us. Jake and Stephanie both drove and took loads of kids and teens with them; Rowen and Tim got a ride there with his mother; and a few other teens and kids ended up there too – either coincidentally; or because they heard about the afternoon adventure from other friends.

Keeping up with five toddlers – including Sophia – wasn't tough because Michael and I had lots of help with that; and we just spent a lot of time playing in the water. We threw in some playground time and a couple of ice cream runs to the campground store; and all of the kids and teens were happy campers. Rebecca would have liked to spend the day with Lucas too, but since he was busy; she did at least have fun hanging out with Jenny – though she wasn't particularly enthusiastic about the flirting that Jenny kept entertained with as they both were getting a fair bit of attention from the boys around our age who were either visiting for the day or camping at Quarry Lake for the week.

Rowen and I got some of that kind of attention too, but no more than Michael or Tim did with some of the teen girls. We met a few other teens too, but for Michael and me; the only teens we spent any time hanging out with were 'babysitting' younger siblings or kids doing the same things that our little gang of toddlers was doing.

Jake and Stephanie knew about the change in plans for dinner, but they didn't tell the rest of us; so it was a surprise for nearly everyone when the parents and some of the working-age teens started showing up by late afternoon. That wasn't the case for Ethan, Ehlana, and me; but we played along when Mom, Dad, Violet, Dillon, and all of our local aunts, uncles, and cousins caught up with us at the lake. We had our picnic dinner right away, though that was mostly because Michael and Tim had to go back to town early for their baseball practice. Yes, Rowen and I could have gone back then too, but we weren't all that enthusiastic about doing that; and our boyfriends didn't have to try very hard to convince us to stay and play with everyone else and then just meet up with them again once we got back to town.

So we stayed, played, and swam a lot more right through until it was time to pack up when the park closed to day campers at dusk. Tim was hanging out with Michael at his house when we got back, and while they helped with unloading vehicles there first; they came over to my house by the time we'd unloaded the minivan and truck. Naomi and Aiden had been taken home by then too; and Rowen had run over to her house to pack an overnight bag for the last-minute sleepover we decided to have.

We went with a sleepover instead of camping strictly for the comfort; though we were very tempted to set up tents and invite Michael and Tim to join us.

Really tempted.

Fortunately, it was still hot enough that the prospect of trying to get any sleep at all in this heat and humidity kept us from doing that, and while we don't have any major plans for fun and adventure tomorrow; whatever we do end up doing wouldn't be much fun on zero sleep.

It isn't as if we didn't still have fun with Michael and Tim before we came up to my room for the night. We went for a long swim in the river; went for a walk; and then we split up into couples and got 'lost' for a little bit of alone time before meeting up at my house again for one last bedtime swim. Mom, Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana were all in bed by the time Rowen and I came up to my room; so we pretty much just took turns getting ready for bed and then joined Mandy for some cuddle and computing time along with a lengthy girl chat that covered everything from the action at Quarry Lake today to plans for the holiday weekend and my cousins' vacation visits that will be starting on Sunday for either one or two weeks.

I took care of my usual nightly computer checks and a bit of family business too; and Rowen provided the YouTube video entertainment – this time going with a search from random acts of Fourth of July craziness, mess-ups, or the weird and wacky. The only thing that amazes me with a lot of those videos is that people actually seem to enjoy posting some of them. The cute and amusing ones are fun; but there are way too many that I just don't even want to watch.

Okay, yes, we usually watch them anyway; but it's like watching a train wreck – you know it's going to be bad right before it happens; but can't look away.

There really isn't anything else to add to this month-end update, and we're already into July now; so I'd better wrap this up and get some rest. I sure hope that July will be as much fun as the last half of June has been, but while I'll have to wait to find out whether that'll be the case or not; you, lucky future reader; can just flip the digital archive pages right now to find out – unless you're ready for a nap now too! ;^)

Whether you use this little month-end divider for a rest or not, I am ready to call it a night; so, until next time...

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

Thank-you for visiting the Heirs of the Magi world, and spending time with us in Witch Falls!

Cassie's Journals are originally posted on the Heirs of the Magi Blog, and will cover the time between the end of Magi Master and the start of Magi Ascension; which continues the Heirs of the Magi story from Cassie's high school graduation in June, 2018. Cassie's 2011, 2012, and 2013 Journals are also available for free at my  Smashwords Author Page.
