

Heirs of the Magi Archives

Cassie's Journal 2012 – Part One

By Steve Leggett

Published by Steve Leggett - Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 – Steve Leggett

Cover Image by Kayla Leggett \- Copyright 2012 - Used by Permission

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 (Forthcoming)

The Catalyst Chronicles

 The Catalyst is Born

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Table of Contents

January 2012

February 2012

March 2012

April 2012

May 2012

June 2012

Notes

January 2012

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Happy New Year (again)!

I started the New Year with Tai Chi for one and let Mom and Dad sleep in until Ethan and Ehlana woke up. Giving Violet her early wake-up call so she could get ready to hit the road with Dillon was fun, and then I moved on to get a pot of coffee brewing for Mom and Dad before going upstairs again when Ethan let us know that he was awake and ready to get out of a wet diaper.

After a food-overload New Year's Eve, we went with a very light breakfast, and then Violet was sent off to pick up Dillon at his house with a quick round of hugs and kisses. Mom, Dad, and I took turns taking care of Ethan and Ehlana while we all got ready for church. Compared to yesterday, it was a lot colder this morning, but we walked to church anyway.

The teens were leading a big part of another holiday weekend service; and the sanctuary was nearly as full as it had been on Christmas Day. Ethan and Ehlana did get to meet Seth Green before the service; and we ended up having Kara sitting with us after she convinced her parents that I really did need her to entertain me until we went to Sunday school with the rest of the kids. Kara stayed with Rowen and I for that, and then she walked home with us too before being convinced that going on to Aunt Leanne and Uncle Adam's house and their family Christmas was going to be more fun than hanging out with me for the afternoon.

I'm sure that they did have more fun, but I was happy to have a fairly quiet afternoon and evening. Having New Year's Day on a Sunday meant that it was professional football on television instead of college games, but that still meant that sports ruled in the living room. While Dad and Grandpa watched their games; Mom, Grandma, and I took Ethan and Ehlana over to the park for a while, and then put a movie on in the lounge. Dinner was fast and light again, and then Grandma and Grandpa went home; Dad had work to do in the office; and Mom did a short lesson with Ethan, Ehlana, and I before settling into the living room to watch a movie.

I helped Mom with a lengthy bath and bedtime for Ethan and Ehlana, and then it was time for me to spend some quality time with my Jacuzzi. I've been multi-tasking since then, but even though my plan was to get to bed early; I managed to lose track of time, and it's after eleven-thirty already. Time to wrap this up; get out of the tub; and use a little Magi power to dry my hair so I can get to bed. Rowen and I have another week of play and fun to look forward to, and I definitely don't want to need to stop that for afternoon naps!

Monday, January 2, 2012

It didn't take long for the temperature to drop, and it didn't recover much today; barely getting above freezing this afternoon. That didn't keep Rowen and I from going out to play, but we did leave the bikes behind while we were out and about.

Our first stops were to visit with as many of the Johnsons and McEwans before they left town; all of Uncle Adam's family deciding to leave early and hopefully beat the traffic crushes that might be late this year because of the college bowl games. Kara gave us her family Christmas recap with a little help from Eddie and Nicole. There was a lot more to hear about, but getting that news had to wait until after Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne joined the little bowl day party that Mom and Dad were having.

Rowen and I mostly stayed out of the way of that, but we did stop in for regular visits, and Aunt Leanne gave me the condensed version of her weekend highlights while we had dinner with the rest of the girls. The guys didn't want to miss any of the Rose Bowl action; so the food had been set up buffet-style so that they could fill plates on the fly without missing much of the wild action.

Before I forget, I haven't mentioned in my journal that Rob and Trish got engaged for Christmas, and while the family was together, they set their wedding date for August eleventh. I don't need to look into the future to find out that Aunt Leanne, Uncle Adam, and his family are well on the way to having a very busy summer; with two weddings sure to be highlights.

Rowen and I helped out with the dinner cleanup, and then we watched a movie in the lounge with most of the girls. The Emersons had joined the party after closing the store. We hadn't planned on a sleepover, but Rowen's parents were easily persuaded to let me keep their daughter when the party was obviously going to continue on after Rowen and I were ready to go to bed.

She's sleeping now, but I ended up working on the family business for an hour or so after we climbed into bed and cuddled with Mandy between us. The party is still going on downstairs, but it's heading toward eleven-thirty, and probably won't last much longer – it is a work day tomorrow for most of the adults in the house. I'm going to wrap this up now, and though I thought about going downstairs to say goodnight to everyone and see if I've missed anything exciting; tomorrow is soon enough to get any updates, and I don't really feel all that motivated to get out of my nice, warm bed. Now that most of the holiday visitor traffic is over, it should get a lot quieter around town; but that'll also give Rowen and I even more time to play with our friends; and after a couple of cooler days, the weather's looking good for the last not-quite-half of our holidays too.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

After another busy holiday weekend, Dillon, Jake, and Stephanie had Tuesday off, so Violet was spending the day with them. I haven't really been in the loop on her Magi training while she's been here, but I think that Mom wants to get more done than they have so far. It's not easy juggling everything they both have on the go, and there are probably some late nights in their immediate future.

This may be one of those late nights, but Rowen and I are doing another sleepover at her house; and I don't plan on staying up until after Violet gets home to send a few messages back and forth to find out. With Patrick and Scott in the house here too for the night, and doing their very best (or worst) to annoy us; I don't even plan on doing this much longer before Rowen and I call it a night. With that in mind, let's go with a condensed recap of the day.

It's still colder today, so Rowen and I spent the morning indoors. We played with Ethan and Ehlana for a while; giving Mom and Alicia time to work around the house instead. I wanted to get the family business work done and out of the way after lunch, so instead of sitting around and watching me work; Rowen decided to work at the computer store until I was ready to play again. That ended up taking me nearly two hours before I was ready to meet up with Rowen at the store, and then we went to play at the park until dinnertime.

We ate at my house, but Rowen had the sleepover approval done before we'd headed over to the park, so after helping to clean up, I packed a bag; did a long round of goodnight hugs and kisses with my parents, brother, and sister; and then Rowen and I walked over to her house. Patrick and Scott looked very pleased with Rowen's reaction to the surprise (for us) news that her parents had approved a sleepover for them too. The fact that Owen and Patricia mostly seemed to be amused by her irritation didn't exactly make things better. Patrick has pretty much gotten over being so shy around me that he couldn't talk now, and that's usually a good thing; but sometimes, like tonight, I have to admit that being seen and not heard can be better than hour after hour of constantly being bugged and pranked.

While the prankster duo irritated us, and entertained the parents, we did also manage to watch a movie together too. The boys also had the Michigan-Virginia Tech Bowl game streaming on Owen's computer after it started, but Patrick and Scott were more interested in bugging Rowen and me than they were in either the movie or the football.

Which brings me back to now; and they're back again. Rowen's rolling her eyes, groaning, and probably wishing that we were at my house again tonight. I'm going to shut down the computer now, and maybe if we play unconscious for a while; Patrick and Scott will give up for the night. That's a wrap on another fun day, and we won't even think about how many (or few) days are left until we go back to school. Sometimes it really is best to just live in the 'now'!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

I'm going to keep this short and sweet tonight.

The warmer weather returned today, and Rowen and I took full advantage of the Fall or Spring-like temperature. Violet was busy with Dillon and their friends for most of the day, and Alicia wasn't working; so we also tried to help out a bit by spending some extra time with Ethan and Ehlana too. That included some morning play time in my room and the lounge, and an afternoon trip to the park.

The rest of our day was spent biking and playing until dinnertime, and then Rowen had other plans with her family; and I've mostly spent the evening with Mom, Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana. That included a Magi lesson and we watched a bit of television. Dad had some work to do, but he saved that until Mom and I took Ethan and Ehlana upstairs for baths before Mom nursed them and we tucked them into their cribs for the night. By the time we joined Dad in the office, he had stopped watching the football game he'd been keeping an eye on after West Virginia blew out the score in the second quarter. He may prefer close games, like last night's three-point, overtime win for Michigan over Virginia Tech; but I have a feeling that Mom soon had plans to convince him that they could find something better to do than sit around and watch football all night.

It didn't take me long to figure out that three was a crowd, and I suddenly felt the need for a Jacuzzi session and early bedtime. I've been playing on my computer since then too, and the early bedtime did and didn't end up happening for me. (or for Mom and Dad, unless they fell asleep with their wards up!) My 'play' time on the computer ended up including a half hour of family business work, and nearly two hours of archive study while I snuggled in bed with Mandy.

It's nearly one, and Violet just got home. Mom must have finished tucking Dad into bed (let's just not go there); since she's dropped the wards and is probably going to do a lesson with Violet. They're welcome to stay up as long as they want, but I'm done for the day. Until tomorrow – I'm out!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

I'm not the only tired person in the house tonight, but I will be the first one sleeping.

Mom had Alicia helping her today, so Rowen and I were free to play after she finished working at the store for a couple of hours and came over to meet up with me. After that, we spent the rest of the day until dinnertime outside; including having a picnic lunch in the park. Dillon was working the close shift at the Inn with Jake and Stephanie, so Mom and Violet spent a lot of time together this afternoon and evening. Dad and I helped them out with that by taking care of Ethan and Ehlana from dinnertime to bedtime, but Mom and Violet are taking care of the bedtime routine with the twins now; and I'm already changed and in bed.

Dad still has work to do in the office; Violet's meeting up with Dillon after he's finished work; and Mom will probably do a bit of family business work in the office while Dad's busy anyway. Hopefully they won't stay up too late again tonight, but while I always have something else that I could be doing; I am definitely past-due for getting a solid eight or nine hours of uninterrupted down time. If I miss anything major between now and morning; I'll add that to tomorrow's recap.

Friday, January 6, 2012

It really started to feel like we were running out of time for our Christmas holiday today.

The weather was great again – perfect for playing at the park and biking. Rowen and I took full advantage of that, and spent most of our last weekday off outside. I'm sure that at least some of the kids and teens in town had other things to do, like jobs; but it looked like everyone that could play outside was doing that too. Alicia was working with Mom again today instead of her usual Saturday, so I didn't need to help Mom around the house at all, but Rowen and I did take Ethan and Ehlana to the park for a while; and then picked up Bakery treats and had our afternoon break with Dad, Aunt Leanne, and Claire at their office before dropping them off at home again.

Rowen and I were doing our last sleepover of the holidays, and we were having our first dinner and a movie night of the year too; so while we'd gone back out to play after dropping Ethan and Ehlana off, we made it home early enough to help out with getting everything ready for dinner with the usual group plus Grandma and Grandpa. Getting together for dinner was fun, but the guys all wanted to watch the college bowl game instead of a movie; they somehow won the vote despite being outnumbered by the girls; and our only consolation prize was that we were able to talk with everyone more than we would have during a movie.

By the time Ethan and Ehlana were going upstairs to be nursed and put to bed, Rowen and I had decided that we'd had enough football for the day; and went up to the lounge to watch a movie instead. Violet stopped by to visit with us for a while, but only until Dillon got to the house after finishing work at the Inn. We had a few other visitors to the lounge during the movie too, and when our show was over; we went downstairs to say goodnight to everyone before coming back upstairs to get ready for bed.

Mandy and Rowen are both sleeping now, but I've been trying to tire myself out with a bit of studying in the archives. The football game is over – Arkansas beat Kansas State twenty-nine to sixteen – and it sounds like Violet and Dillon should have the living room to themselves soon. If Rowen was still awake, we might sneak down the back stairs and launch a surprise hug attack on them; but that's not really as much fun as it used to be. I wonder if that's just because they've been dating for a while now, just like we haven't done that with Mom and Dad since they got married; or maybe being bugged by Patrick and Scott at some of our sleepovers at Rowen's house has changed our perspective. Either way, with only about another day and a half before Violet has to go home again; I'm sure that she and Dillon will appreciate being left alone tonight.

While I'm thinking about Violet, I'm going to wrap this up, and do a bit of work in the Magi project archive. Mom is keeping detailed notes on Violet's training, but one of the things I noticed in particular during this visit is that Violet has actually moved up the Magi power scale from where she was when I first figured out how to detect the differences between Magi, latents, and normal people. I haven't noticed that with anyone else yet, but I haven't been looking for it either. It should be interesting to find out whether that happens with other Magi as their training progresses – particularly with the kids – but it could also lead to a way for us to nudge strong latents toward being able to use their Magi power.

Anyway, there's nothing else to write about from today's action; so I'll move on now, and so can you! :^)

Saturday, January 7, 2012

It wasn't as warm today as it's been the last few days; but compared to last year's storm on the first weekend after New Year's Day; this was a major improvement!

Rowen was working at the store this morning, so after feeding her and seeing her off; Mom and Dad put me to work for a few hours too. That included some house work; a bit of babysitting; and helping Dad with a few outdoor chores. Violet was working with us while Dillon was working the breakfast-lunch shift at the Inn, and we mostly had fun; but I was ready to get back to playing again when Rowen came over after having lunch with her parents.

The park and school playground were practically boy-less all afternoon as football again had their collective attention – today's games starting with yet another college bowl game followed by two NFL wild-card playoff matches. That worked out well for us, and Rowen and I had a great afternoon of biking, playing, and hanging out with some of the other girls. I was advised that dinner was going to be at Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne's house. An impromptu football-watching gang had gathered there; and Mom, Aunt Leanne, Ehlana, and I were going to be there for cuddle and food support.

Fortunately, I was able to escape when Mom was ready to take Ethan and Ehlana home to give them baths before their usual bedtime routine. Aunt Leanne came along to help her with that, so I was free to spend a little time in my Jacuzzi. I'm doing this while soaking in the hot, swirling water; and am going to cuddle with Mandy and get a solid nine hours of sleep for a change. Rowen messaged me, and is working on the same plan except for doing a bubble bath since Jacuzzi time is only an option when she's here.

I would have liked to spend more time with Violet today, but she and Dillon were spending the afternoon and evening with Jake, Stephanie, and some of their friends; and I don't expect her home until late. Hopefully she'll be able to get a bit more rest than she has managed on the night before going home from her last few visits. If she does need a cuddle buddy later, though, I'll be there for her.

Which is another good reason to wrap this up and get to bed. Just one more day until we go back to school; and though it's been a great couple of weeks, I'm actually starting to get excited about that. Maybe I should have Mom and Uncle Adam use me for the next Magi Healing lesson to see if something's wrong! :^)

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Violet didn't need a cuddle buddy last night – well, she didn't need one after getting home and going to bed. We did have a short good-morning cuddle and chat after Tai Chi while Mom and Dad were busy with Ethan and Ehlana; but we really didn't have much time for that before we needed to get up and moving.

I thought that we'd be a bit rushed with Violet needing to get ready to head home after lunch, but she had other plans, and we were able to get to church twenty minutes early. Dillon was already there, so I'm sure that spending the extra time with him had been the main reason that Violet hadn't started packing her bags before or after breakfast. They did sit with us until Sunday School so that Ethan, Ehlana, and I could spend a little more time with them; but I'm not sure whether they actually made it to the teen classroom or not. I don't think that I was the only person in their combined families to decide that a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy was appropriate for the occasion.

The good news with Violet holding off on the packing was that we got to spend a couple of extra hours with her during lunch and while she did get ready to head home. Mom did one last lesson with her too; and she conveniently pulled out of the driveway in time to stop at the Inn to say goodbye to Dillon, Jake, and Stephanie while they were taking their afternoon break. Mom and Dad had work to do in the office after that, so Rowen and I took care of Ethan and Ehlana. We walked to the park and played there for a bit less than an hour; watched a movie in the lounge; and then Rowen headed home when it was time for Ethan, Ehlana, and I to get ready for dinner at the Inn.

We were mostly doing the early buffet because Grandpa had assured us that he absolutely needed one last meal at the Inn before he and Grandma left for the sunny south in the morning. Our little family dinner party at the Inn ended up being even more fun than usual for me when Rowen and her family joined us. She advised me that it had only taken reminding her mother that the Proctors were doing the dinner buffet to convince her that cooking and cleaning for an hour and a half or so would not be as much fun as going out too. The dining room at the Inn was full, so maybe the impending return to school for the kids was a factor too.

After a great meal, Mom and Dad took us over to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne came too, and while Grandma and Grandpa still had a bit of packing to do, we spent nearly two more hours visiting with them before it was time to do the goodbye hugs and kisses; and take Ethan and Ehlana home. I should probably include myself in that, since it's a school night, but then I'm still awake now; and it's going on midnight.

Dad still had work to do when we got home, so I helped Mom with Ethan and Ehlana; we did a Magi lesson while she was nursing them; I followed that up with a bath; and have been working on my computer and cuddling with Mandy since getting out of the Jacuzzi. I'm caught up on email, the latest entertainment and sports news, my end of the family business, and I even covered the archive studies that went with tonight's lesson.

I really should get some sleep now to be ready for school in the morning, so that's all from Witch Falls for today, folks!

Monday, January 9, 2012

Grandma and Grandpa are on the road heading south; though they have stopped for the night now after a long first day of driving. They'll be in Florida by tomorrow sometime, and even though we had a fun day at school; I still wish I could be there too!

I don't want to jinx it, but he weather is supposed to be great again this week; and it's amazing to be this far into winter without any snow yet. Some of the grownups around town are joking that we used up our quota of snow last winter, so we aren't going to get any at all this year; but I doubt we'll get quite that lucky.

One good thing about getting back to school today was that I could catch up with some of the country kids that I usually only see at school or church. Doing that involved a fair bit of hugging, which brings me to the subject that's been on my mind for most of the day – the fact that Rowen and I are growing up. Specifically, sometime when we weren't looking, we've both hit the puberty speed-growth stage. That was particularly obvious today when I realized that we were no longer the shortest kids in our class. I'm sure that a couple of the boys are not happy about that, but it's not like we've jumped to the top of the class either. Some of the girls are three or four inches taller than the rest of us; including all but one of the guys.

The reason that I've been thinking about this a lot today, and want to write about it here, is because there are a few things that I've noticed that I don't find recorded in any archive records; including Mom's. That's likely at least partially because there aren't many records for women Magi Masters. Mom's training was very different from mine; and her mother may not have even known that she had this ability. It stands to reason that Magi Master boys would be able to do this too, but I can only guess as to why none of them have ever mentioned or acknowledged the talent – or even an awareness of that kind of control over their physical bodies.

I'll continue to study this, and it's probably connected to my Healing power, but I am quite precisely controlling the changes going on in my body. That's happening on a subconscious level, though I'm sure that I could take conscious control too if I wanted to do that; and I can observe everything that's happening on that level. I should also note that there is a possibility that I'm aligning my growth and development with Rowen's, since it's probably not a coincidence that we're still essentially the exact same height and nearly the same weight when she's more than two months older. Having Rowen and I go through this together gives us a unique chance to study whether there are any marked differences between Magi Masters and Adepts; though each Magi's specific talents might be more of a factor than actual power.

Knowing that I have this ability makes for some interesting hypotheticals. For instance, if you could choose your own adult body and features, would you? Since I can, even if I leave it to be directed and controlled at my subconscious level, how might that affect what would have happened without the ability? Maybe, if I am following Rowen's lead on this, I'll even start and stop developing at the same stages she does. That idea also brings up the question of whether I could or should help Rowen through the next couple of years by using my Healing power on her. It certainly wouldn't be hard for me to make some of the more uncomfortable parts of going through puberty much easier for her too. If that's a question for the Magi Council; I'll leave it to Mom and Uncle Adam to ask. I love Grandpa Grant and the other guys on the council; but this is definitely not going to be something I'll want to discuss with them anytime soon!

Moving on from thinking about that for a while; Rowen and I had a long after-school snack break with Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana; we got our homework out of the way; and then went for a walk to the park with the twins for the forty minutes or so we had until it was time to say goodnight to Rowen and head to our respective homes for dinner. For most of the guys in town, and probably a large percentage of that half of the population in the country; the only thing going on in the world tonight is the BCS National Championship match between undefeated LSU and one-loss Alabama. Our house was no exception; and Ethan seemed quite happy to cuddle with Dad after dinner and watch the pregame show while we waited for Aunt Leanne, Uncle Adam, Aunt Deborah, and Nick to join the game-watching party.

Having a chick flick movie night in the lounge was an option, but a narrow three-to-two vote that Ehlana and I lost kept us with the boys in the living room for the night instead. I've been compensating for that by playing on my computer too while stretched out on the floor in front of the nice, warm fire that Dad decided to have for the occasion; and I've been chatting with Rowen; sending and receiving a few email; keeping up with what's new and exciting for the usual kid-centric topics around the web; and even took care of a little family business work.

Ehlana's been passed around a bit, but she's spent some time playing on her iPad too; mostly reading a couple of books while everyone else is watching the game and chatting. For the girls, the favorite topic of the night is Aunt Deborah and Nick's wedding plans. Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne will be in the wedding party; along with Aunt Deborah's and Nick's brothers and sister; their spouses or fiancée; and their respective best friends from College. While Deborah's Maid of Honor was going to be helping out a lot, Aunt Leanne was again in the thick of wedding plans too, and now that Christmas was over; she and Aunt Deborah were going to really get to work on things like invitations and lining up all of the appointments for everything from dresses to cakes and decorations.

Though I wasn't particularly interested in the football game, I'm sure that even the fans that weren't happy about the Alabama-LSU matchup would have to concede that Alabama was good enough to deserve the number two ranking even if a few other teams may have had legitimate claims too. Nobody could doubt by the end of the game that Alabama had learned from their only loss of the season – to LSU – as they rolled to a twenty-one to zero win to earn the BCS Championship title.

As I write that, I can't help but smile and think that you, a future Magi, reading this a thousand years from now will wonder why I'm even including things like football scores in my journal when my observations about a Magi Master's control over puberty is much more important in the grand scheme of things. Mostly, I write about things like that because one thing I've noticed in the archives is that writing about daily life is often overlooked in favor of those 'more important' topics. That may have been necessary in the past because of writing restraints, but in our digital age, running out of parchment or ink – or even having too many scrolls or books to carry around – isn't a problem. If you think this is too much information, try checking out the section of the archives that Mom started on Contemporary society. You'll find everything you'll ever want to know about how people lived in the twenty-first century. I only wish that I could pop into your 'now' to see what you think of that from your future perspective!

Anyway, once the game was over, it was time for our guests to head home, and for me to help Mom with getting Ethan and Ehlana changed and tucked into bed. She'd nursed them earlier, but they'd wanted to stay up with us instead of going to bed at nine-thirty or so like they usually did. It's nearly one o'clock now as I write this, and I'm half-wishing that I'd gone to bed then instead of staying up too. The good news is that college football is done for another season – the bad news being that we still have a few weeks left of NFL football playoffs to go. I don't really want to think about that now – or about anything else. It's time to shut down both my computer and brain for a few hours. Tomorrow is going to be a long school and work day; and I'm really going to need the rest.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

I've managed to lose myself for the past couple of hours while working on my computer. It's after midnight; and I'm going to make today's journal entry short so I can get off to sleep.

Mrs. Warren has our class mostly back to our normal studies after a fairly easy first day back. That also meant the usual amount of homework too; and I got that out of the way right after having a snack and drink with Mom, Alicia, Ethan, and Ehlana. Rowen and I are both back to our normal work schedule too; so once the homework was out of the way; I worked on the family business until dinnertime.

Mom did a Magi Healing lesson with Uncle Adam and me when he and Aunt Leanne came over to spend the evening with us. Dad and Aunt Leanne had worked in the office and watched Ethan and Ehlana while we did that, but then we all joined in for a Telepathic chat with Grandma and Grandpa. I got to do the link for that, and we talked for nearly an hour, until it was time for Ethan and Ehlana to be nursed and put to bed.

I came up to bed then too, and only planned on studying the related archive material for tonight's lesson; but one thing led to another, and here we are, back to now at the end of another very long day. Wednesday is not only a play day, but Rowen and I are going to Gretchen's eleventh birthday party after school too. That's going to be fun, and I really should get on with resting up so I'll be ready to party! Have a great morning, afternoon, evening, or night (depending on when you're reading this). I am so out!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

While I was at school today, it occurred to me that I've spent as much time thinking about the Magi project, and the social aspects of our studies, at every birthday party that Rowen and I have gone to since starting that project with Uncle Adam. I decided to make sure that I didn't do that today as much as possible; and just enjoy spending the time with my friends.

Gretchen is one of the girls in our class who, like Rowen and I, are in the slowly diminishing group of girls that still have our sanity when it comes to boys. Like Sally, her family has a farm, and though Rowen and I don't get to play with her away from school all that often, we do hang out with Sally and some of the other girls regularly at recess and lunch. Her friends all made sure that she had a great day at school, and her mother picked her up after school so that she didn't have to ride the bus. Rowen and I were getting a ride to the party with Patricia; but we went home to get cleaned up and changed first before she picked us up and drove out to Gretchen's farm.

We had another sunny, unseasonably warm day; and the party started outdoors with Gretchen showing the 'town kids' around the farm. I really love my new home, and wouldn't change anything; but if we couldn't live there, a farm like Gretchen or Sally have for their homes would be very cool too. Speaking of cool, even though we've had great weather so far this winter, it does cool down fast by late afternoon, and it wasn't all that long before we were all ready to go inside and continue the party there.

One thing that Rowen and I loved about this party was that there was basically no boy-talk at all except for a few comments about how annoying a couple of the guys in our class had been to Gretchen today. Unless a kid was having their birthday celebration out of town, or maybe at Quarry Lake in the summer; there seemed to be a fairly standard party format in Witch Falls – at least for the girls, and at the handful of parties I've been to since moving here. We played games, listened to music, and talked about nearly everything except boys, sports, and politics.

There were mixed results for dinner, but I give Gretchen bonus points for asking her Mother to make her favorite 'real food' meal; and though the awesome chicken dish wasn't a hit with all of her friends, I really loved it. Everyone did love the Olde Bakery cake and ice cream dessert; Gretchen multi-tasked and opened her presents while we finished eating; and then we moved into the living room to watch a movie until our respective parents started dropping by to take us home.

Dad was elected to come and get Rowen and I; and he must have called ahead to get a time unless he and Mom just had Ethan and Ehlana look into the future to see when the movie would be over. We dropped Rowen off first, and then went home. I definitely didn't need any bedtime snacks today, but my birthday party recap doubled as the bedtime story for Ethan and Ehlana. I had homework to get done after that, but I worked on that after getting changed and in bed with Mandy. After getting that out of the way, I've been doing the usual email and entertainment checks; took care of a business issue that couldn't wait for tomorrow after school; and spent a little time working on the Magi project. That last bit of action was mostly in response to the latest entries that Uncle Adam had made, but adding in my two cents didn't take long; and once I get this journal entry done, I'm done for the day.

It's another work day tomorrow, but game night at the Inn is starting up again too. The best news is that we've got a long weekend to look forward to after that, and though Dad will need to get some work done for his trip to Crystal Springs; we're going to take it easy this weekend too. Of course we have all said that before, so maybe I should just wait and see what happens! If you're reading this sometime in the future, you can just continue on to the next few entries to find out what happened – I'll just have to wait and live it!

Thursday, January 12, 2012

It finally snowed today!

Okay, so it was more like a few handfuls of snowflakes, but it was pretty while it lasted.

There wasn't much news to report from around school today. I worked in the office after getting home from school, and had my homework and everything I wanted to get done on the family business today finished by dinnertime. Game night at the Inn is usually the highlight of my Thursdays, but tonight, it was the Magi lesson that Mom and I worked on after getting home from the Inn and getting Ethan and Ehlana fed and off to bed.

Dad had was already working in the office by the time we joined him there, and we probably should have gone somewhere else to do the lesson; since he ended up watching us instead of working on the contracts he needed to have ready for the morning. My lesson was especially cool because Mom was teaching me how to use my Magi talents to repair different things. Mom had occasionally done lessons like this with me – like when she taught me how to repair the containers I damaged when I was learning how to control the elements; but this time, she was showing me how to do much more complex repairs.

For example, fixing a shattered teacup that is covered with a very detailed pattern requires a lot of very precise use of power; and a lot of concentration. What I loved best about this lesson was the way that Mom showed me how to pull a lot of different talents and other lessons together to do the work. I earned bonus points for repairing the matching saucer to the teacup that Mom had me fix using a phase-shift transmutation within an air shield mold. It wasn't really any faster to fix the saucer, but I basically memorized everything about it from the undamaged set that I had to use as a comparison, and then stripped everything away until I was left with the raw materials like the clay, glaze, and paints. I took the whole room into a time-phase; and then recreated the saucer, with the time-phase allowing me to speed up the entire process. Just for fun, I held the time-phase while Dad finished his work in what was just a few minutes in real time.

That only seemed fair after he lost nearly an hour of work time by watching my lesson, but using that much power does have me ready to sleep now, so I'm skipping most of the usual bedtime computer routine, and don't expect to be awake for very long once I'm done this journal entry. Since I'm sensing that Mom and Dad have other plans for the time he doesn't need to spend on his work; being this tired is really good for me in more ways than one!

Friday, January 13, 2012

Be afraid, be very afraid!

Okay, not really, but that seemed like a good way to start a Friday the 13th journal entry. Some of the kids at school tried their best to make the day scary by pulling pranks and practical jokes. That wasn't a problem for Rowen and me – the guys have learned that I am not afraid to defend myself with reputation-damaging hugs and kisses. Yes, I know that won't work much longer, but I'll have a plan B ready when hugs and kisses aren't an effective deterrent anymore.

Nothing really scary happened around the school or town today. Rowen and I played with Ethan and Ehlana after school, and she stayed for our dinner and a movie night. Aunt Deborah and Nick had other plans this week, but Aunt Leanne left work early and came over to help Mom with the cooking. Dad had a late appointment, but he and Uncle Adam both managed to get home in time to have a drink and get the daily update from Rowen and I before we sat down to eat. Aunt Leanne handled most of the dinner entertainment by telling us some Witch Falls Friday the 13th stories, and though we didn't go with a scary movie to commemorate the day, we did introduce Ethan and Ehlana to Casper the friendly ghost.

Rowen and I were set free after the movie while Ethan and Ehlana had Mom and Aunt bedtime support, and Dad and Uncle Adam took care of the post-movie cleanup. We'd been given last-minute approval for a sleepover, but needed to run over to Rowen's house to get an overnight bag packed for her. We've been in bed with Mandy for about an hour now; surfing the net and having a nice, long bedtime chat.

That's about it for today, and Rowen and I are both ready to call it a night. We both have some work to do in the morning, but then we'll have the rest of the weekend to hang out together and play. I guess we'll be making up our fun as we go along, but sometimes, no-plan weekends are what remember forever moments are made from!

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Happy first birthday, Naomi!

Ethan and Ehlana were fired up today – especially when they got to spend a couple of hours hanging out with Naomi this morning while her father was busy with getting everything set up for the party they were having after Liz was finished work at the Salon. That was going to be a family-only event, but the twins had wanted to see Naomi so they could give her the birthday presents that Mom had helped them to pick out. (She'd vetoed the iPad suggestion, but had approved a new dress that Ehlana only half-joked about being able to borrow once Naomi outgrew it; and a cute little gold necklace)

There was a birthday surprise for me too, though it was the timing, and not the gift, that was the newsflash. I'm sure that Ethan and Ehlana did want to surprise me too, and it was fun getting to be there when they got to tell Naomi that they – we – were all Magi too. Mom assured me later, when we could talk about it, that it had been a lot of fun watching Ethan and Ehlana convince the senior members of the council that they needed to let Naomi know about them, and start training with them too. If she thinks that was high on the fun scale; she's going to need to re-calibrate it for everything else that will be happening over the next few years.

Our little photographic memory Kodak moment with Naomi happened in the lounge, while Dad and Alicia were out running an errand that I'm sure wasn't just random coincidence. We had time for a telepathic chat; Mom did a short first lesson with Ethan, Ehlana, and Naomi that I was only observing for; and then we were back to playing normal babies and toddler again by the time Dad and Alicia got back from their trip to the store.

That time with Naomi was definitely the highlight of my day, but Rowen and I have been having fun since getting together after lunch. It wasn't all that warm out today, but it did get above freezing, and the park was play central for a lot of kids – at least until the NFL football playoff games started later in the afternoon. We decided not to do another sleepover tonight, but I had dinner at Rowen's house, and then stayed to play with her until nearly ten o'clock.

Since getting home, I've done the bedtime story part of the nightly routine with Ethan and Ehlana; had a long soak in my Jacuzzi; and done everything on my computer from family business work to archive studies and my usual email and entertainment checks. I added a few notes to our Magi project archive relating to today's events with Naomi, but that was mostly for future reference. It's been a long time since a Magi of the Light has received training from a Master starting at such a young age; and it will be interesting to compare where Naomi is now to how powerful a Magi she'll be as an adult.

I should start doing all of this using a time-phase – it's after one o'clock again, and I'm going to need to stop playing for the night. Using up so much power on a time-phase might not be worth the effort, but the great thing about the future is that there's always more of it just around the corner.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

The top news story around the church and town today was Grandpa Grant and Eleanor's trip to South America. Only a handful of people knew the real reason they were going to be spending nearly seven weeks there, and in a couple of Central American countries; but it was the fact that they were going on yet another long trip together that was making them the most talked about couple. I'm sure they find all of that very entertaining and amusing – especially the jokes about Grandpa Grant running off with a girl less than half his age.

While they are going on a working trip, I'd love to go along. Mom has never risked taking me to see one of the archives for obvious reasons. We even lived fairly close to one of them once, though that archive was relatively new compared to some of the archives in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Going on trips to play in the archives won't be in my future, but some day, I am going to get out there and see the world too.

For today, Rowen and I had to settle for a play afternoon around town and at the park. That was partly because we had another beautiful, warm day, while also having the bonus of not many boys around while they watched yet more playoff football. Dad was keeping an eye on the football at home too, but he was working in the office too. Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana spent a fair bit of time in the office too; though they walked to the park for a visit too; and Rowen and I played with them for a half hour or so until Mom was ready to take them home for their afternoon feeding.

Rowen had to go home early enough to get ready to go out to dinner at her grandparent's house, so I was home in time to help Mom with making dinner. Ethan and Ehlana supervised and told me about what they'd been doing all afternoon – including the play time with Rowen and I at the park from their point of view. We were going with an easy dinner night; so it didn't take long to make or eat our meal. Dad was taking the night off to spend with us, and after cleaning up, we had a little Magi play time; watched some television; and then did the full bath and bedtime routine with Ethan and Ehlana.

Since putting them to bed, I've enjoyed a bit of quality time with my Jacuzzi, and have been in bed with Mandy; playing on my computer for about an hour now. Mom and Dad went to bed early too, though they've had their shields and wards up the entire time; so they're definitely not sleeping, and I'll take a guess that their Jacuzzi play time was wetter and wilder than getting the twins through their bath was. To avoid continuing along that thought path, I was just thinking that I've talked about knowing when Mom and Dad have their wards and shields up; but that's not normally something that a Magi can detect unless they actually come in contact with the shield or trigger the ward.

I've always been able to sense Mom's use of the power because of our bond; just as she knew when I put my wards up before helping Rowen when she fell down the stairs at the falls last year. Like she told Rowen and her grandmother back then, I can't sense what she's using the power for, but in the case of wards and shields, it's actually not being able to sense anything else that allows me to know that she's putting up her protections. I'll just happily go on pretending not to know why they need to do that for a few more years, but some day; Mom and I will probably need to have a talk about that. I'd ask Aunt Leanne, but I quite possibly will never be old enough to hear her stories about this particular topic.

Okay, that was two-days late, Friday the 13th scary! Time to not just change the subject, but call it a night. I really should rest up for our bonus play day tomorrow. Do not, I repeat, do not think – or dream – about boys and girls together at all. I am going to dream about bunnies – nice, cute, cuddly, fluffy bunnies! (Google 'The Good Witch' movie series for reference :^) – I love those shows!)

Monday, January 16, 2012

It's time for another short edition and an earlier than usual end to the day for me.

We had yet more gorgeous, warm weather to enjoy our extra day off with. Rowen and I took advantage of that, and spent most of the day playing and biking outside. We had lunch at the falls; took Ethan and Ehlana to the park for an hour or so after that; and then we went for a long bike ride until it was time to get back to our respective homes for dinner.

My evening included a short Magi lesson with Mom; a Jacuzzi bath; and now I'm in bed, cuddled with Mandy, and doing a quick run-through of my usual nightly computer check. There isn't any news to report from around the family, unless you consider Violet and Dillon not getting together at all this weekend newsworthy. I'm skipping the archive study, and only needed to send off one family business-related email; though that really could have waited until after school tomorrow.

I want to be up early to see Dad off to Crystal Springs, so that's all for today. Back to school in the morning, and the start of a long nine weeks until the March Break holiday. That seems like a long way off right now, but hopefully we'll manage to keep entertained and have a little fun between now and then!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

The miniscule bit of snow that we woke up with this morning didn't exactly shout 'winter'; but the drop in temperature certainly was a shock compared to the last few days. It certainly has me wondering why I've been missing all of the snow fun we'd enjoyed last January.

With Dad in the city, Mom had extra help drop by while I was at school, and then Alicia was working today while I was busy with my part-time job and homework. She stayed until nearly seven o'clock, and then Aunt Leanne and Uncle Adam were our evening support team.

Mom did a Magi Healing lesson with Uncle Adam and me while Aunt Leanne entertained Ethan and Ehlana for an hour. I was set free after that, and have been wrapping up my day with a Jacuzzi and telekinetic computing session. The multi-tasking is mostly because I feel the need for another decent night of sleep. There actually isn't much more to say about what's been going on around Witch Falls today, so I guess that's it for now, and time for me to get on with that long winter's nap.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Congratulations, Angela and Terry!

I know they'll never read this, but since they're Dad's best friends from college; the news that Angela is pregnant with their first baby is definitely worth a headline in my journal.

That news moved this to second place: Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

The headlines have gotten ahead of the daily recap, so let's back up a bit. The morning highlight at home was our birthday phone call to Grandpa and Grandma. They had a busy play day planned that was a lot more fun than my day at school. The weather in Florida was better too, but we did get back above freezing again this afternoon. That worked out for Rowen and I, and we went over to the park to play for an hour or so after school. We took care of our homework before dinner, and Rowen stayed to help out with Ethan and Ehlana until nearly seven-thirty.

Mom threw in a Magi lesson for all of us after dinner, and when Rowen went home, she and I took Ethan and Ehlana upstairs for their baths. They weren't going to bed early, but Mom wanted to get that done before Aunt Leanne and Uncle Adam came over after the clinic closed so that we could all do a link with Grandma, Grandpa, and Dad. That was when we found out about Angela being pregnant, and Dad had just found out a bit earlier when he'd gone out to dinner with Angela and Terry. The baby is due at the end of September, and it sounds like the expecting parents are very, very happy – even if Terry is teasing Dad about it being his fault. I'm not quite sure if that's because Dad introduced them or because of the new babies in our family. There's always the possibility that Terry has just been looking for a joke replacement ever since he couldn't use his 'for God's sake, Cameron, get a girlfriend!' line anymore (well, technically, he could again now, but I seriously doubt that Mom would be amused).

Our little telepathic birthday chat lasted for about an hour, and then it was time to say goodnight to Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne. I helped Mom with the bedtime feeding; we skipped story time; and after a pair of diaper changes, Ethan and Ehlana were both soon out for the night. Mom headed for her Jacuzzi after that, but I decided to just get changed and into bed with my fluffy, cuddly, and warm cat. The computer check was quick and uneventful, and once I finish this, I'm heading off to sleep too. I love doing those long-distance links; but they do take a fair bit of power to hold for that long. I should study in the archives for an hour or so, but that would probably just put me to sleep faster anyway. I'll just have to fit that into my schedule tomorrow night instead. I'm getting sleepy just thinking about that. The good news is that with endless archives to read, I'll never have to worry about needing sleeping pills!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

We've had a fairly quiet day in Witch Falls. The temperature has been falling all day, and while we aren't getting any snow, it's cold enough that Rowen and I were glad to be working after school.

My family business work was mostly reading through a small digital pile of corporate reports. One thing that we're really able to do differently now that Mom has her three little helpers is that we now have more time to dig deeper into each of our businesses than she could ever hope to do before. That's been really exciting, though I wouldn't use exciting to describe my work today.

Fortunately, game night at the Inn made up for those earlier hours of business tedium. Miranda was happy to have Mom as her partner, and though there wasn't a very big turnout this week; they weren't able to win the senior championship. She did at least get the consolation bonus of having Jake and Stephanie win the junior championship for the first time in quite a while, and she did have fun playing with Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana.

Since getting home, I've helped Mom with Ethan and Ehlana's bedtime routine; had a bath; done my email and entertainment checks; and spent more than two hours studying in the archives (including while in the Jacuzzi). We're now on the far side of one-thirty, and I am ready to call it a night, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Friday, January 20, 2012

It's been a while since the last time we had a quiet, uneventful Friday around our house.

Our usual dinner and a movie night guests were all busy with other plans tonight; so Mom and I were on our own taking care of Ethan and Ehlana from the time Rowen left for home until Dad got back from Crystal Springs. We took the night off from work and lessons, so after cleaning up from a quick and easy dinner; we mostly played with Ethan and Ehlana in the living room for a couple of hours.

None of us were in any hurry to go to bed after Dad joined us, and it was nearly two hours later before the twins were tucked into their cribs; I sent Mom and Dad to bed; and I came upstairs to my room for a little Jacuzzi action. Maybe having quiet evenings at home isn't good for me. I was still wide-awake after my bath, and ended up reading in the archives for an hour and a half while snuggling with Mandy.

My studies tonight included some fairly technical explanations about using Magi power for repairing things, and it's interesting to see how these discoveries often coincided with acute necessities that so many Magi throughout history have faced. When looked at in the context of our entire history, there haven't really been all that many Magi who have been able to live their lives without needing to struggle just to survive daily life. That has me wondering about how much of what we – the Magi – know would have never been learned without those struggles and crises. I guess the flip side to that is what might have been able to accomplish if we hadn't needed to work so hard just to survive. Maybe we'll get to find out the answer to that question here in Witch Falls. Depending on when you're reading this; you may even know the answer! That's a bit of a thought-twister.

Anyway, I'm going to leave this journal entry with that; and get some rest, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

(I liked the closing line last night, so I'm going to keep it; at least for a while)

Saturday, January 21, 2012

I really love having Dad back at home again after his work weeks in Crystal Springs. Morning Tai Chi just feels that much more special, and the full country breakfast he made for us this morning was great too.

The housework and laundry I helped with for the rest of the morning wasn't nearly as wonderful, but I did have the afternoon off to play with Rowen, Ethan, and Ehlana while Mom and Dad mostly worked in the office. It stayed below freezing outside, so our play afternoon was in the lounge and my room. We watched a movie; Rowen and I mostly held and helped Ethan and Ehlana while they put a fairly advanced puzzle together; and we all played with Mandy and some toys until Rowen needed to head home. After seeing her out, I helped Mom with making dinner while Ethan and Ehlana supervised and helped with a bit of quality control taste-testing.

Mom took the night off to hang out with us, but Dad decided to push on with his work and get it done so he could spend the whole day with us on Sunday instead. Our evening entertainment included another movie; bath time for the twins; a bedtime story and snack that Dad stopped working to join us for; and then Ethan and Ehlana were tucked into their cribs by shortly before nine-thirty. I was ready for a long Jacuzzi break by then, so while Mom and Dad both went to work in the office again; I went up to my room to do that before climbing into bed with Mandy.

I don't know what the play plans with Mom and Dad will be for tomorrow, but I'm sure that whatever they come up with will be fun, so I should get rested up so I'll be ready to keep up with them. There really isn't anything else to add for today; other than...

...live from Witch Falls, this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

I thought that Mom and Dad might have something planned for our play day, but they didn't; and we all had a blast while pretty much just goofing off all afternoon and evening.

We mostly had even nicer weather than forecasted, except for a bit of rain that didn't pass through town until after dinner. Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne spent most of the day with us too, and our adventures started with a barbeque lunch that Dad and Uncle Adam did most of the cooking for. After that, we all went over to the park, where we met up with Rowen and her parents and brother; walked the entire path; and then spent an hour at the playground. Dad and, Owen, and Uncle Adam were probably breaking some man-laws, but they didn't watch any of the two NFL playoff matches; though they did occasionally check on the scores after we got home again from the park.

Our in-house afternoon fun included a snack break; more play time that revolved around entertaining Ethan and Ehlana; and some video gaming action that was mostly for Patrick's benefit. Mom, Patricia, and Aunt Leanne decided that they didn't want to cook dinner, and advised the rest of us that we were going to the early buffet at the Inn with just enough time for us to get ready to go out and do that. Miranda was happy to have the extra customers on a rare day when the dining room wasn't completely full; and we loved doing our part to reduce the surplus food supply!

The last unplanned fun of the day was a movie night back at our house that Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and the Emersons all came home with us for. Though the guys were slightly outnumbered, they picked a typical, no-think action flick that managed to keep most of us entertained for a couple of hours. Once the movie was over, it was time to say goodnight to our guests, and then I was sent up to my room while Mom and Dad took care of the bedtime routine with Ethan and Ehlana.

I've been soaking in my Jacuzzi since then while doing a little telekinetic computing, but I'm getting tired; and it's time to wrap up both my bath and this journal entry. There may not be anything particularly exciting to write about today, but having a fun play day with my family and our friends makes all of the responsibilities I have worthwhile. Since I'm not only tired, but seriously wrinkly too; it's time to wrap this up for another day.

Live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Monday, January 23, 2012

There isn't much to write about today. School was uneventful; Rowen and I had our after school snack with Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana before going to play at the park until dinnertime; and Mom did a Healing lesson with Uncle Adam and I after dinner.

I helped Mom with Ethan and Ehlana's baths and bedtime routine after Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne went home while Dad worked in the office. Since then, I've mostly been studying in the archives while snuggling in bed with Mandy. More than two hours of that is enough to put nearly anyone to sleep, and I'm definitely there now.

Live, but half-asleep, from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Today is Lisa's eleventh birthday. Rowen and I weren't invited to her party; mostly because she and her best friend are official members of the already-crossed-over group despite being one of the youngest girls in our grade – like I am. She wasn't quite ready for a girls and boys party, but I'm also sure that boys would be front and center in their girl talk; just as they are pretty much all day, every day at school. A couple of the girls were upset about not getting invitations, but Rowen and I will only be worried when we do start getting party invitations from the 'cross-over' girls; since that might mean that we've moved up to the next level too. Now that's a seriously scary thought!

While Lisa and her boy-crazy friends were having their kind of fun at her party; Rowen and I were working after school. For me, that was homework and family business in the office until dinnertime. This week, I'm starting to take a look at the bigger picture for all of 'my' companies; from both an environmental and economic perspective. I won't bore you with the details of things like carbon footprints or shared distribution channels, but I am going to find ways to make my part of the family business more eco-friendly and efficient.

One thing I will mention is something that's been in the news more and more lately – labor and environment exploitation in poor and developing countries. Dark Magi aren't the only bad people in the world, but Hathorne Industries is a good example of the worst that a company can be when it comes to making a buck at any cost. It's a huge problem that's going to take a long time to fix, but if you're reading this far enough in the future; then you know that we – the Magi of the Light – are going to help fix those problems much sooner than anyone now might think possible.

Moving along, Alicia stayed for dinner, and then after she went home; Mom and Dad both did a Magi lesson with Ethan, Ehlana, and me for over an hour. We had a bit of play time after that, and then while Dad went to get a bit of work done in the office; I helped Mom with twin baths and the usual bedtime routine. When Ethan and Ehlana were finally sleeping, I came upstairs and got ready for bed too while Mom went to join Dad in the office. I started studying in the archives shortly after climbing into bed with Mandy; mostly to distract myself from thinking about what my parents have been doing. Mom put her wards up shortly after getting to the office, but I could sense enough before she did that to know that she was not getting ready to start a little Magi-powered computing. Okay, that's already way too much information!

As I wrote that, those wards are suddenly moving mysteriously from the first to second floor, and I definitely don't want to think about just how long I was studying in the archives before starting this journal entry. I do think that it's time to move from computing distraction to unconscious and uninformed kid; so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

I've been lost in the archives too long; so this journal entry is going to be short and sweet.

School was good; Rowen and I had fun playing at the park once we were set free after our snack and daily recap with Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana. Mom went with a quick and easy dinner; and then she did a long Magi lesson with the twins and I before we – and Dad – all went to bed only slightly later than Ethan and Ehlana's normal bedtime.

There wasn't anything worth reporting tonight from my usual email and entertainment check, and I honestly have no idea what possessed me to spend nearly three hours in the archives; let alone manage to do that without falling asleep. Whatever the reason, it's now past twelve-thirty, and I should have been in dreamland hours ago, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Today's highlight, for Rowen and me, was the news that we're going shopping in Crystal Springs on Saturday. Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne are going on the trip too; and we're going to meet Violet for shopping and lunch while she waits for Dillon, Jake, and Stephanie to get to the city after working their usual lunch shift at the Inn. Mom and Aunt Leanne want to stock up on supplies while we're there, and I'm sure that at least a few new outfits will come home with us; but the main reason for this trip is to get Valentine and birthday gifts.

Compared to that news flash, work wasn't anything to write about; so I won't. :^)

Game night at the Inn was fun, and I'm sure it was the shopping trip news that kept me fired up and smiling all evening. I should have been getting some extra sleep to be ready for the weekend entertainment, but I've been on my computer again for nearly two and a half hours since going to bed after helping Mom with getting Ethan and Ehlana into their cribs. Since I'm thinking about them now, I should note that there's a good chance that my extra archive studying since the holidays may be – indirectly – their fault.

When it was just Mom and me, we both did a lot of studying in our spare time. For me, that meant both my regular education and Magi training. I never really thought about it at the time, but learning to read in just a few weeks, then moving on through the elementary grades, high school, and into college-level studies by the time I was five was fairly incredible. Since moving to Witch Falls, though Mom is making sure that my Magi training is moving right along, and I've been busy with the family business for nearly a year now; I haven't really done any other studying at all.

Watching the progress that Ethan and Ehlana have been making has definitely reminded me that I still have a lot to learn; and should get back to working on my education more seriously – especially considering what the three of us know about our future. It's going to be strange enough to have my baby brother and sister working on Grade Six material with Rowen and I within the next month or two; I don't want to end up behind them on the learning curve before I'm done high school.

Anyway, for now, that's translated into more archive studying time for me; and since I am thinking about it, I'm going to wrap this up, and spend a little time working out what I will need to do to be ready for my personal future (I know you're thinking it, Aunt Leanne; but don't go there!). I seriously do not want to think about that part of my future either, or plan for it; so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Friday, January 27, 2012

We had the usual gang over for dinner and a movie night, and Rowen stayed for a sleepover; since we're going shopping in the morning anyway. She worked at the computer store after school for a couple of hours instead of her usual Saturday shift, and then came over to our house in time for dinner.

There really isn't anything else to report for today. Nothing particularly exciting happened at school; the dinner conversation was mostly about Aunt Deborah and Nick's wedding plans; and the movie was a no-think action flick that was only moderately entertaining, or worse, according to a poll of the girls after it was finally over. With a big shopping day ahead of us, Rowen and I went to bed shortly after the movie ended, and though we've spent a bit of time surfing the net on our computers since climbing into bed with Mandy, once I finish this journal entry; we're calling it a night.

Until tomorrow – live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor (and Rowen Emerson), signing off!

Saturday, January 28, 2012

It's probably official now – I've become small-town!

That realization came thanks to a quartet of glances from a quartet of girls at the Mall. They were about the same age as Rowen and I; and apparently our enthusiasm at the start of our shopping adventure was ridiculous to cool city kids. I'm only mentioning this in my journal because Rowen and I actually paid attention to those glances and overheard the quiet snide comments and snickers; and talked about it later. Rowen really didn't like that we were being made fun of by those girls, but I advised her that there's probably no way for me to ever turn down the enthusiasm when I'm getting to spend a whole day with my family and best friend; doing one of our very favorite activities. Since this may be an early warning sign of impending crossing-over, though, I do hope that Rowen won't have to temporarily pretend that she doesn't know me if she moves up to the next level without me.

If those girls had seen us when we met up with Violet, I probably would have been laughed at some more. Okay, so I'm almost eleven, and probably should cut back a bit on the bouncing; but everyone would be happier if there were more and better hugs in the world (I know you're thinking it Aunt Leanne; but don't go there again, or I'll start locking all of my archive journals for ten or twenty years).

Getting to the news of the day; the shopping was a blast. Rowen and I got to spend a lot of time with Violet – especially when the six adults wanted us out of the way while they did some gift buying that they didn't want us to know about for some reason. That worked for us; since we all had some Valentine's Day shopping to do too, along with the gifts that Rowen and I wanted to pick up for some of our friends' upcoming birthdays. Helping Violet with picking up Dillon's Valentine's gift was the most fun, and we had all of that done by the time we met for lunch in the food court with the parents, aunts, uncle, uncle-to-be, and the twins.

After getting our fast food fix, it was time for a little clothes shopping that the guys in our group set their favorite girls free to do while they found something else to do for a couple of hours. Violet was able to shop with us until three o'clock; and then Dillon, Jake, and Stephanie finally made it to the city after working the lunch shift at the Inn. We all met with them near the Mall entrance where we'd all parked our vehicles, and after saying goodbye to Violet; Mom, Aunt Leanne, and Aunt Deborah decided that it was time to head over to Wal-Mart for our supplies run before we stopped for dinner.

We ended up hitting a Home Depot too, and Rowen and I mostly entertained Ethan and Ehlana at both stores while six of our favorite adults took care of the boring part of our shopping trip. Aunt Leanne might have preferred another fast food meal, but the guys all wanted to sit down and have real food instead; so it ended up being nearly eight-thirty by the time we were on the road for home. That was a fairly quiet trip; mostly because Ethan and Ehlana slept most of the way, so Mom, Dad, Rowen, and I tried not to wake them up by talking back and forth between the front and back seats.

Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, Aunt Deborah, and Nick had taken Dad's truck to the city so we'd have enough storage space; so everyone came back to our place first. Rowen and I helped Mom with Ethan and Ehlana while Dad had lots of help to unload our things and get them into the house. Patricia helped out with that a bit when she walked over to get Rowen; and then they both stayed for a little visit with Mom after the twins were fed and tucked in for the night, and Dad had gone to help with the deliveries to Aunt Deborah's and Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne's houses.

When Rowen left, I was sent up to bed too; but I've been playing in my Jacuzzi, and on my computer, since then. That's included a late night chat with Violet after she got home from her date with Dillon; and an archive study session while I waited to wind down enough to sleep. My reading was temporarily interrupted when I needed to get out of the Jacuzzi and eventually snuggled in bed with Many; and then I worked through a very detailed Healing study that had taken the Magi at the time several decades to complete.

I don't really have any plans for Sunday. Mom and Dad both plan on working in the office, and Rowen will be busy with a family day; so I'll probably just help out by watching Ethan and Ehlana while Mom and Dad are busy. Now that I think about that, I should really get some sleep to be ready to keep up with my little brother and sister, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Sunday, January 29, 2012

***Restricted Access Journal***

Ethan, Ehlana, and I spent some time using our combined Sight this afternoon; and had a long talk about what we all needed to get done over the next eight or nine months. We'll be letting Mom, Dad, Aunt Leanne, and Uncle Adam in on some of that fairly soon, but today we mostly made some decisions on what the three of us would be personally doing with our education and Magi training.

Since I've already been working on that, the only real adjustment I've made is to how much more I need to start concentrating on learning new languages. My new goal is to master five languages a year. I know, that seems like a lot even for a Magi Master, especially with everything else I have on the go; but that is something that I seem to have a special talent for that's more than just because of my photographic memory. I actually started that tonight by spending an hour studying Japanese.

Most of Ethan and Ehlana's education will be the same, but they also have specific things that they each want to learn too that they'll either need to start doing on their own, or we'll talk with Mom about doing things with them a bit differently than what we did with my early training. Ethan's going to need to know a lot about History; including Magi History. Ehlana is going to study the sciences – particularly Biology and Medical Sciences. We're all quite sure that there is a connection between what we're being allowed to see of our future and the fact that we each have special talents for, and a love of, the fields that we'll need to become experts in.

We also will be putting a few things together over the next month or so to get ready for our upcoming chat with the parents, aunt, and uncle; but that really won't take us long – especially when we put our little Magi Master heads together! I'll save that news for then, and though this won't seem like particularly interesting news in the future; I am keeping this entry protected until having the information open to other Magi won't offer hints to our collective future that shouldn't be revealed yet.

So, while you can only be reading this from sometime in the future, this is coming to you live from Witch Falls; and I am Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Monday, January 30, 2012

Plan, meet reality!

When I have a spare hour or two, I should read a book or three on time management. I know that there is a lot of work for me to do, and all of that is very important, but it was way too nice a day to give up after school play time for; so I didn't. Rowen and I spent our after school until dinner time riding our bikes; playing at the park; and enjoying the unbelievably warm, end-of-January weather.

We had a lot of fun, so I don't regret the play time at all as I'm sitting here, writing this, at one-thirty in the morning; but I am very tired. Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne did the after-dinner Healing lesson/niece and nephew play time with us, and while they spent some time with Mom and Dad after Ethan and Ehlana went to bed, I've been here in my room, working on my computer.

I'll need to work on mastering multiple languages at the same time as I go along, but I will do that in stages; and only be studying the basics of one language at a time. Since I'd picked to start with Japanese, learning the basics will probably take three to four weeks; depending on how much time I spend on it. My study plan after that is to keep building on those basics while also adding new languages. Thanks to the internet; a practice chat buddy in just about any language in the world is only a few clicks away.

Anyway, I've done my usual nightly computing; studied in the archives for an hour; and then spent the last hour or so listening to Japanese tutorials while also practicing writing the alphabet. Japanese written language has three scripts that I'll need to learn. Kanji will be easiest for me, since it's based on Chinese. Hiragana is a phonetic alphabet, while Katakana is the best choice for transcribing other languages into Japanese. My photographic memory helps a lot with learning to read and write the symbols; be even I need to practice a fair bit before being able to write competently.

I need to get some sleep. The last day of January has already started, and if the forecast holds; it's going to feel more like another spring day than mid-winder. We'll see if Rowen and I can resist the temptation to skip our after-school work to go play again. I don't have anything else to add for tonight, though, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Aunt Leanne would tell Rowen and I that we're spending way too much time around Mom and Dad, but we did resist temptation and go to work at the computer store and office after school.

Since I couldn't be outside, I settled for playing with some of my South America family businesses instead. The most satisfying part of my work today was arranging some extra help to some of the towns near the epicenter of the earthquake; including some financial support for one of our companies' employees and their families.

Mom wanted to do Magi lessons with Ethan, Ehlana, and me after dinner while Dad was working in the office, so that worked out to be a good time for us to talk with her about those changes to the study plans for the twins. That did mean letting her know a bit about the 'why' behind the 'what we need to know', though I'm sure she has more questions that we just shouldn't answer for her quite yet. The bottom line is that we're all moving in the right direction now; and Ethan and Ehlana are particularly happy about having new challenges.

With three hours of archive studies, Japanese lessons, and an email and entertainment check behind me now, though, I'm ready to call it a day – and month; since February has already started.

Live, but half-asleep, from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

February 2012

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Rowen and I missed out on the beautiful last day of January play time opportunity while we were being responsible instead; but we made up for that with a great after-school outdoor adventure today that made for an awesome start to February!

With the Super Bowl coming up this weekend, football was on again at the park. We stayed away from that, and our boy-crazed friends and classmates that felt the need to watch the boys goof around and show off as much as they actually played the game. Our bike ride around the park on the path; playground fun; and visit to the Falls was much more exciting than sitting on bleachers doing nothing but watching and talking about boys.

After Rowen and I split up just before dinnertime, the rest of my night has been fun too. Mom had another lesson for Ethan, Ehlana, and me; and then I was set free to get started on the rest of the work I wanted to get done before going to sleep. I've been busy doing that for a couple of hours now, and decided to wrap up with only a half hour of archive time after finishing my email and entertainment check; and my Japanese lesson. It's only coming up on eleven o'clock, but I'm ready to get a bit more rest than usual tonight. I definitely want to catch up on my sleep and be ready for work and game night at the Inn tomorrow, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Today is also Groundhog Day; which I honestly didn't even think about last year. As usual, the various groundhogs being watched on their big day either saw their shadows or didn't; so we'll either have six more weeks of winter, or spring will be early. Since we've had spring-like weather practically all winter so far; I have no idea why anyone would care one way or the other this year.

The highlight for our day was the birthday Telepathic link we did with Grandma and Grandpa for the hour or so we had after dinner before needing to go over to the Inn for game night. Grandma did sound like she loved the play day that Grandpa took her on – nearly as much as he did. The only downside for him was that they didn't have Mom, Uncle Adam, or me there to heal him after playing a bit too hard.

Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne had come over to our house for that, so we all went to the Inn together; and they won the game night senior Championship this week. Dad needed to get some work done after we got home again, so I helped Mom with Ethan and Ehlana; including giving them baths before Mom nursed them and we tucked them into their cribs. Mom opted for some Jacuzzi time after that, and I got changed and in bed with Mandy.

Since then, I've managed to get everything done except studying in the archives; but I'm too tired now to even think about doing that too. One more day to the weekend, and I am so ready for it! That's all I have tonight, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Friday, February 3, 2012

We've had rain off and on today, and it didn't really warm up much today either.

That's really the news of the day; mostly because the damp, cold weather affected pretty much everyone in the Ridge River District. For Rowen and I, it meant playing indoors after school; and I've definitely been a bit less fired up than usual today too. Rowen had plans with her family tonight, so she went home to get ready for that by a bit after five, and we only had Aunt Leanne and Uncle Adam with us for dinner and a movie night.

Ethan, Ehlana, and I had fun tonight, as always; but they were ready to be nursed and put to bed by the time the movie ended shortly before ten. I went up to bed then too, and have been working on my computer since then while Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne stayed to visit with Mom and Dad until nearly midnight. Taking the night off from studying was an option, but since I will need to take a few nights off over the next couple of weeks; putting in a bit of extra work now is probably a good idea.

Some of that was fun – especially practicing my Japanese with a little online chat with a girl from Japan. The time change is going to make that easy to do during my late-night studying. I should have done that last, because I only managed forty-five minutes of archive studying; and nodded off twice before deciding to get this done and go to sleep. We've been getting some snow flurries, but not much; and nothing that will likely stick around for long tomorrow. Mom and Dad will have me doing chores in the morning, but Rowen and I are going to have a play day after lunch. We don't really have any plans for what to do, but since the weather is going to stay cold and wet; we'll probably just end up playing indoors anyway if the forecast doesn't change. I've had enough for today, though, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Annoying brother and his best friend alert!

I'll keep this short to avoid Patrick or Scott catching me working in the archives.

I had morning Tai Chi, breakfast, and housework with Mom and Dad while Alicia mostly took care of Ethan and Ehlana after getting to our place after breakfast. Rowen joined us for lunch, and then we've spent the day at her house. Sleepover approval at her house was acquired too early; and that's why Patrick and Scott have been pestering us since dinnertime.

Since using our Magi powers on the boys isn't an option, that's all I have time for tonight.

Live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor and Rowen Emerson, wishing we could put a pair of 'going-on' nine-year old boys into archive storage somewhere far away, but settling for signing off from this archive instead!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Depending on your team allegiance, yeah or boo; the New York Giants won the Super Bowl over the New England Patriots.

Why is that the opening for my journal entry tonight? Because Mom and Dad were hosting a Super Bowl party; one of many going on around town, and unknown numbers of them around the country. I wasn't interested in the football game at all, but Mom and I were also hosting a girls' chick flick party in the lounge too; and that was a lot of fun!

Rowen came home with me after church, and had lunch with us before we went upstairs to get everything set up for the mini movie marathon. We kept Ethan and Ehlana with us while we did that; giving Mom and Dad time to get the living room ready so the guys would be set to watch everything from the pre-game show to the post-game awards and interviews.

The usual Friday night dinner and a movie gang was here for the party, along with the Emersons, Heather and Adam Green, and the Seagers. That made for quite a crowd of girls in the lounge whenever we were all upstairs; but Rowen and I spent a fair bit of time playing with Ehlana and Naomi in my bedroom, and Mom and the other women made regular trips down to the kitchen or living room. Heather Green is now just over five months into her pregnancy; and she stayed in the lounge most of the afternoon and evening instead of climbing stairs any more than needed. Since the game was already on during dinnertime; Rowen and I even had the option of eating at table in the lounge; which we did do while all of the Moms, Aunts, and Moms-to-be ate in the dining room instead.

Madonna was headlining the Super Bowl half time show, and Rowen, Ehlana, Naomi, and I found out that some of our favorite women were, and are, fans. That's why we were all in the living room to watch the show, and while I did like the music; Rowen and I thought that the adults' reactions to the show was the most entertaining part of the scene. I'll leave that thought right there, since I don't want to comment on – or think about – the hotness factor being discussed about a woman who is old enough to be my grandmother. Our Moms thought that conversation was very funny, but Rowen and I took Ehlana and Naomi with us at that point; and escaped to the lounge to get started on our last movie.

That's pretty much all the news for today. I've been spending some time in my Jacuzzi since the party wrapped up, and have been working on the computer too; though I've only been doing the email and entertainment checks tonight. I'm going to finish this entry; get out of the tub; and get to bed now. It's been a long, fun, day; but I have a busy week ahead, and need to get the rest when I can.

Live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Monday, February 6, 2012

What a beautiful day!

Rowen and I really appreciated getting such nice weather for our after-school play time. We went for a bike ride; played a little basketball with some friends at the school; and hung out at the park for a while before it was time to head home again.

Uncle Adam and I had our weekly Healing lesson with Mom after dinner, and then I was able to get started on my nightly computer time early. That's why I'm already working on this journal entry before midnight; and about ready to get some sleep. My online chats in Japanese are fun; the writing is coming along too; and I only studied the archive material that Mom gave Uncle Adam and me to go along with our lesson tonight. There isn't anything newsworthy to report around the family, and I'm up-to-date on the latest in entertainment around the web; so I'll be ready for the usual girl chat at school tomorrow. Time to turn this computer off; snuggle with Mandy; and get on with the sleeping, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Happy Birthday to me; happy birthday to me...

Starting out today's journal entry with that begs the question: why am I still awake after midnight to witness the start of my eleventh birthday? My friends would think I was nuts to be spending so many hours working and studying tonight too, but here I am; just getting around to this after nearly three hours of Japanese lessons and archive research.

Now that I think about it, they may be right. All I've really done since getting home from school is work on the family business; do a lesson with Mom after dinner; and study in my room. There really isn't any news to add today, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, a year older than a half hour ago, signing off!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

It's officially not my birthday anymore, and even though I was planning on taking the entire day off, here I am again; writing this after ending my birthday with a couple of hours of computer time while snuggled in bed with Mandy. Mostly, the work has been to keep me busy while I wound down. I've been on the go nearly non-stop since waking up this morning, but have a lot to think about tonight too.

Mom, Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana helped to start the day out great with a new outfit birthday present to wear to school and a pancakes and bacon breakfast. I spent a little extra time getting ready for school after eating; and Mom helped me with my hair while Ehlana supervised. There were some cards and a couple of gifts given to me during the day; with the best one being from Jake, Stephanie, Dillon, and Violet. Some of the girls teased me about crossing over after I hugged the two boys to thank them, but I'm sure that most of them just wished that they could've been hugging Jake too.

Except for Dad, Uncle Adam, and Ethan, I was having a girls-only party; and Rowen and most of the other girls came home with me after we were set free from school. The only exceptions were Rebecca and Jenny. They came over in time for dinner, and then left right after I opened my presents and we finished having dessert. I knew that they didn't really want to come, and Miranda probably made Rebecca do it; but I was glad to spend a little time with them anyway.

We decided not to do a sleepover this year, and since it was a school night, we really didn't have all that much time to play after dinner. The lounge had been party central for everything except dinner, and we played, talked, and listened to music videos up there until the 'country kids' started getting picked up at around eight-thirty. Rowen was the last to go home, and she stayed long enough to help me with cleaning up the lounge. Uncle Adam had needed to leave early for his Wednesday night clinic, but Aunt Leanne stayed until after Ethan and Ehlana went to bed, and then he stopped in again for a short visit before taking Aunt Leanne home.

Winding down since coming upstairs to bed has been taking so long in part because I've been busy processing everything that's happened today. I know that Mom has mentioned that I'm fairly hyper-active many times in her journals, but I'm also sucking up every detail of everything that goes on around me all the time; and on information overload days like today; it takes a while to work through it all.

Try not to be scared, but I'm mentioning 'crossing over' for the second time in this rccap. This time, it's strictly for the Magi project purposes, and no, it is not me – or Rowen – who is crossing over right now. I've already added the details to the project journal, but wanted to include some thoughts about it here too. During the party tonight, I noticed a tiny fluctuation in the latent level for one of my friends. Uncle Adam and I can add this to our study, but it could help us to understand why some Magi gain use of their abilities during puberty or in their teen years – like Violet did. That won't happen in this particular case, since she's about mid-level in the latent range on the rough scale we're still working on; so the changes I'm sensing are far too small to lead to active use of any Magi abilities. Before anyone goes there; no, I have no intention of eavesdropping on any teen make-out sessions to try and further this particular line of research!

There's been a lot more that I've been thinking about, but nothing really new that I haven't already written about; so I'll leave continuing the Magi and non-Magi sociology discussion for another day. I loved all of my presents, the party was a blast, and we all especially loved the Olde Bakery cake; but turning eleven hasn't really ended up feeling like that big of a deal. It's funny how different that seems to be for everyone. Eleven seemed very important to Rebecca, Jenny, and quite a few of our friends, but when I mentioned it to Rowen; she reminded me that she had felt the same way I did when she turned eleven last November.

Anyway, it's late, and I need to get some sleep, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

School; family business work; dinner; game night at the Inn; archive and language studying on my computer while cuddling in bed with Mandy; and now...

...live, and absolutely exhausted, from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Mom and Dad joked about skipping our usual dinner and a movie night because we were blowing the entertainment budget for the week on the Valentine's party tomorrow night at Sheldon's; and for the babysitting sleepover at our house for the kids. Even though that really isn't an issue, it was nice to have a quiet evening with just the parents and twins.

Rowen and I had a good day at school, and then we played with Ethan and Ehlana in the lounge until she needed to go home. Mom went with an easy-dinner, and after cleaning up; we mostly played in the living room until it was time to do the full bath and bedtime routine with the twins. Mom and Dad went to bed after Ethan and Ehlana were sleeping, but I went with some Jacuzzi and computing multi-tasking before climbing into bed with Mandy.

Even after that, and another hour of studying in the archives; it's still just coming up on midnight. I could manage another hour or so of work, but with the sleepover tomorrow night; the extra rest is probably a better idea, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Welcome to my weekend journal update!

The parents are all sure that they had more fun at the Valentine's party at Sheldon's than we – their kids – had at home. They're probably right about that, but we managed to keep entertained too while they were out dancing and having fun with their friends.

Saturday morning included a fairly standard house-cleaning session that took until a bit after one to finish before we stopped for lunch. Rowen and I both had the afternoon off, but we mostly spent that time getting things ready in my room and the lounge for the night. That included stocking snacks and drinks; getting some games ready; and bringing a few of Ethan and Ehlana's favorite toys upstairs so they'd have something to do with Naomi and Sophia Bassett. Hannah and Nathan Draper went to the party too, and Aiden stayed with us while they were out; but he's only three and a half months old, and isn't quite ready to run around with Naomi, or sit on the floor and play with Sophia and the twins.

Rowen and I helped Alicia and her friends with most of the kids, and thinking about the cuddle time I had last night with Aiden seems funny now; only because Ethan, Ehlana, and I spent a couple of hours this afternoon working on what we're all thinking of as our 'future plans'. Considering what we know, I'm sure that there will be lots of jokes some day about me cuddling with Aiden; and the ten-year age difference will just add cradle-robbing and older women comments to the mix.

Before I get to that – our future planning chat – the babysitting service opened for incoming kids at five o'clock yesterday. While Mom and Dad were busy getting ready to go out to dinner at the Inn with everyone they were going to the party at Sheldon's with; Alicia led a personal pizza-making adventure in the kitchen. Rowen and I helped Alicia with that while her friends handled general kid control; and took care of Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, Aiden, and Sophia.

Mom and Dad were on their way to the Inn by the time the first pizzas went into the oven, and after seeing them out, Rowen and I were put to work on kid control while we waited for the food to be ready. That included watching Patrick and Scott, and while they weren't giving us the kind of trouble they usually did when we were all at the Emerson's house; Patrick wasn't anywhere near as shy as he'd been the first time he'd been here while the parents were out on a date night. I was definitely wishing that Andrew could have been here to help out with them instead of being away at school with Isabelle.

Anyway, moving along, Rowen and I didn't have to spend much time with Patrick and Scott, but we did have Jessica Bassett and Lindsay Faulkner for shadows most of the night; and we ended up keeping them overnight too when they were too cute to take home after falling asleep in my bed with Mandy long before the parents started stopping by to pick up their kids after the party. They played with us when we were helping to entertain Ethan, Ehlana, and their little buddies; wanted to cuddle while we watched a movie after the youngest kids were put to bed; and fell asleep to my second bedtime story of the night.

Rowen and I were the only kids still awake when Mom and Dad got home with about half of the other parents, but we stayed in the lounge while our babysitters helped out with getting kids bundled up and out into cars and car seats. Dad was one of the designated drivers this time, and he went back out to take one group home; pick up another at Sheldon's; and drop them off too. His last run of the night was to take Alicia and her friends home while Mom was sent off to bed, and Rowen and I got set up to spend the night sleeping on the sectional sofa in the lounge.

This morning started out with Tai Chi for one. Mom and Dad needed the extra sleep, and we – the six kids – managed to let them stay sleeping until nearly seven-thirty. That did mean that we needed to rush around a bit to get the rest of the usual Sunday morning routine done before heading to church; but we managed to do that and get there on time even with the added stop at the Bassett's house to play dress-up with Jessica and Lindsay.

After taking most of the weekend off, Dad needed to spend the afternoon and evening working to get ready for his week in the city. Mom wanted to get some work done too, and Rowen was busy with her family; so Ethan, Ehlana, and I spent a lot of our time hanging out in the lounge. We started out watching a movie after lunch, but it wasn't long before we were more interested in our telepathic conversation than the show; and I eventually turned it off and got my computer so we could do a little research while we worked through some of the details we needed to have ready soon.

Knowing about certain things that are going to happen in the future doesn't mean that we know the 'how' it will happen; or even the 'why'. We're a fairly bright trio of kids, but we quickly found out this afternoon that there is going to be a lot of work involved with making that future happen; and we're going to need a lot of help – including from people who will never be able to really find out the real importance of what they'll be doing. I was doing all of the actual researching, but Ethan and Ehlana wanted to discuss everything I was working on; and we made a fair bit of progress with laying the groundwork for the construction and infrastructure changes that were going to be so important to everyone in Witch Falls. Spending the afternoon doing research ranging from geology and physics to law and finance would be mind-boggling boring to our friends; but we love working together, and it's all very exciting to us.

We did eventually get around to a little play time, and watched a movie with Mom after dinner. There were bedtime baths for all of us, and I've been working on my computer in bed with Mandy for nearly three hours now. I started out with the usual email and entertainment updates; spent an hour and a half chatting in Japanese with a teenaged girl in Tokyo; read a book in Japanese; and studied in the archive for an hour.

It's definitely time to get some sleep now, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Monday, February 13, 2012

We actually had a bit more than a dusting of snow today, though it won't be around for long; since the temperature is going to be heading up again by tomorrow. There wasn't nearly enough for tobogganing or building forts, but quite a few snowball fights did break out around town; and not all of them were between kids or teens.

With Dad away, I had the extra job this morning of shoveling that snow; though it wasn't really much work to get the driveway, sidewalks, and porches cleared before heading to school. The white, fluffy stuff helped to make everything at school more fun today, and though it was definitely getting slushy by mid-afternoon; Rowen and I still went out to play after school. We took Ethan and Ehlana along for that; and then Rowen stayed for dinner and a Magi lesson before heading home when Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne came over.

That was when the twins and I found out that Mom was going to Crystal Springs tomorrow afternoon for a Valentine's Day date and sleepover with Dad; and that we'd be staying with our aunt and uncle while she was away. Mom did a Magi Healing lesson with Uncle Adam and me, but it was the sleepover news that had Ethan, Ehlana, and I fired up for the rest of the night. They had a bit of help, but we had our bags packed and ready to go before Ethan and Ehlana were tucked into their cribs.

I had planned on going to bed early tonight, but since I won't be able to study tomorrow night; I've been working on my computer since coming up to bed after Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne went home. There was some family business work that couldn't wait until Wednesday; another Japanese chat session; and an hour of working on the Magi project archive. The only thing left to do now is get some sleep, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love is in the air, and while I'm all for promoting love; sometimes I really don't want or need to know the details. That definitely applies to all boy-girl goofiness that went on today between some of my classmates and friends. Rowen and I are now officially in the minority group in our class, and Valentine cards and gifts were responsible for several cross-overs today. Not everyone ended up having a happy day, but cupid's misses were fairly rare in a town where kids had all grown up together.

There were some stories from some of my favorite grownups that I didn't want or need the details of either; including Aunt Leanne's comments about starting her Valentine's Day early with Uncle Adam last night after getting home since they had a houseful of kids tonight. I won't want to be there for her Valentine's Day recap with Mom whenever they get around to that tomorrow either, but there were some really great stories today too.

The top news in town won't hit the main gossip network until morning, but Grandpa Grant asked Eleanor Byrd to marry him. Widower marriages in Witch Falls are rare, so some people may be surprised, but I'm really happy for them. Valentine's Day wasn't quite as exciting for Violet and Dillon. He was working at the Inn tonight, since they were packed; so they couldn't get together even for a couple of hours. Violet did love the flowers and necklace that Dillon sent her; and they talked on the phone for a while after school; but she was still feeling a bit sad when we exchanged a few messages a little while ago.

Aunt Grace didn't get together with Mark either, but they both answered my email with news that they had each received and sent Valentine's Day gifts; and they had an online video chat after Mark finished his shift at the hospital. They still have time to figure things out between them, so hopefully they'll do that so Aunt Leanne and I won't need to help push them along. No, Aunt Leanne, that isn't a conflict of any kind – I wouldn't be doing any matchmaking with Aunt Grace or Mark if they were only eleven.

I should probably mention that Dad and Ethan had Valentine's gifts for Mom, Ehlana, and me that they gave us before Dad left for Crystal Springs; and Rowen and I were both given flowers from our fathers that were delivered to our classroom this morning. We shared a few of our flowers with a few of the other girls again this year, but the boys had learned their lesson; and didn't try to tease us about secret admirers and other bad jokes. I doubt the threat of my hugs will work for any future Valentine's Days – at least not on the boys my age. Let's not think about that, and move along.

Aunt Leanne took the afternoon off to take care of Ethan and Ehlana; so I met up with them at her house after school. Rowen was working at the computer store; though her parents expected to be done early, and they had dinner plans with Rowen's grandparents. Uncle Adam was able to get out of work early too, since sitting in a doctor's office waiting room is apparently not a particularly romantic destination for anyone in town. We had dinner at home; watched a romantic comedy that was tame enough to be kid-appropriate; and Ehlana and I had a little pampering time with Aunt Leanne before we all went to bed after the twins had finished their last bottles of the day.

I'm sure there's more that I could write about today, but I'm ready to call it a day and get some sleep, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

There isn't much news to report for today. Except for a few happy new couples stories, all was quiet post-Valentine's Day at school. Mom got home from the city in time for Aunt Leanne to have her fast food fix for lunch. I'm sure that the trip recap that I was given was either highly redacted compared to the version that Aunt Leanne would have coaxed out of Mom, or she and Dad had a very boring night. Somehow, I seriously doubt that; since Mom sure looked very happy.

I've been working on the family business most of the time since getting that after-school report from Mom, and she's spent most of the time with Ethan and Ehlana. There were breaks for dinner and then a Magi lesson that Mom did with all of us. Ethan and Ehlana went to bed on time; I helped Mom with that; and then we both worked in the office until eleven before going to bed too. Mom was definitely ready to get some sleep by then, but after getting changed and cuddled in bed with Mandy, I moved on to some archive studying and a chat in Japanese for an hour or so before getting my entertainment update, and one last email check, out of the way.

Once I get this journal entry done, that's all for today, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

It's been another long work day, with game night at the Inn the only real break in the action.

That was where the only news of the day happened too, with Stephanie, and her parents, getting teased a lot about her grandfather getting engaged to a twenty-nine year old girl. Some of the guys – and Aunt Leanne – must have been working on their material since getting the news about Grandpa Grant and Eleanor Byrd; and that added entertainment made game night even more fun than usual.

Dad will be home tomorrow night, and I'm beat; so it's time for a comparatively early night. The entertainment and email checks are done; I'm skipping the archive studying; and I read a short novel in Japanese. It's time to wrap this up too, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Friday, February 17, 2012

Rowen and I took the day off – or at least we did after school. We're having a sleepover too, and the fun started with snack time at my house before we went to play at the park until dinnertime. We had the full gang over for dinner and a movie night, and Dad was home by eight o'clock.

Our bedtime story was really just Ethan, Ehlana, Rowen, and I telling Dad about our week in Witch Falls, and him telling us about the kid-rated highlights of his trip. Rowen and I went up to my room after that while Ethan and Ehlana had lots of help for their bedtime routine. Rowen borrowed my Jacuzzi while I cuddled with Mandy in bed; worked on my computer; and we all chatted telepathically. It's a good thing that we were talking too, or the archive studying would have put me to sleep.

When Rowen was finished with her bath, I took a break from the computer to help with her hair, and then we climbed into bed with Mandy again. We listened to music while I dealt with a few email; we surfed the web for a while; and now I'm getting this done before shutting down my computer for the night. We still have some girl chat and cuddle time with Mandy to do, and there really isn't anything else to write about for today, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Saturday, February 18, 2012

The only news I have to report today is that Aunt Grace and Mark are both on weekend getaways. I haven't found out where yet, but I'll guess that those trips are to the same place, and Aunt Leanne has been advised; so she'll get all of the details out of her cousin eventually.

Until I heard about that through an email from Jaimie and Kaitlyn, I hadn't really even been thinking about having a long weekend. Washington's Birthday just isn't as exciting as the 'good' holidays – the ones when we have a town full of families and friends – like Easter, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Violet wasn't coming home this weekend either, and we didn't have any fun plans; so there really hasn't been anything going on to get excited about.

Rowen went to work at the store after breakfast, and I spent the morning doing my usual Saturday chores around the house plus a couple of outdoor additions like sweeping the porches and sidewalks. We got back together again after lunch, and spent the afternoon together, riding bikes and playing at the park until it was time to split up again and go home for dinner.

There isn't much else to write about. Ethan, Ehlana, and I spent the evening at home with Mom and Dad. We did a short Magi lesson, but mostly just talked and played together until the twins went to bed. I've just finished a long soak in my Jacuzzi while chatting online in Japanese and doing my usual email and entertainment checks, and now Mandy and I are ready to get some sleep, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

It's late, and I'm going to skip most of the recap for today; except to say that I've been up late working on my lessons, some archive studying, and taking care of a bit of family business action.

The only thing that I do need to write about is the work that Ethan, Ehlana, and I did this afternoon on our 'future plan'. Our research today was fairly wide-ranging, but that was mostly because Ethan and Ehlana wanted to spend some time working on their own special interests. They offered to help me with getting my part of the plan ready too, but other than studying languages, there isn't anything that needs to be done with that for years yet; and I don't even want to think about the part Ehlana was most interested in helping me out with.

Anyway, we did manage to get everything done that we wanted to finish this afternoon, and with a bit more than two weeks left to go until we need to have this first part of the plan ready to go; I'm sure that we can get all of it done by then. After that, it'll mostly be up to some of our favorite adults to move those plans along toward reality – something that I'm sure we're all going to have a lot of fun with for the next few years.

It's time to call it a day – Rowen and I have a big play day ahead tomorrow (later today now), so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Monday, February 20, 2012

Rowen and I had a mostly indoor play day due to off and on rain today. Dad had some meetings this morning, but took the afternoon off. Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne came for dinner and a Magi Healing lesson, and I've been studying since coming up to my room after Ethan and Ehlana went to bed. That's it, that's all for today, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Back to school, then family business work, followed by a Magi lesson and four hours of studying. 'Nuff said, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Rowen and I couldn't have asked for nicer weather for our mid-week play day. Once the rain had moved out of the area overnight, the warm and sunny moved in, and you'd never know it was still winter in Witch Falls. We went biking around town and at the park after school; played with some friends at the park; and had our snack picnic at the falls. We weren't ready to split up yet at dinnertime, so Rowen came home with me, and then we had a bit more play time after dinner that included a Magi lesson with Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana.

After Rowen went home for the night, I went up to my room and got ready for bed before cuddling with Mandy and firing up my computer. I've only put in an hour of archive studying, but that's pretty much put me to sleep tonight, so once I have this journal entry done; it's going to be lights out time. I don't have anything else to report today, and though this is...

...live from Witch Falls; I am Cassie Proctor, barely awake and signing off!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

I know, it's been four days since my last journal entry, but sometimes life gets in the way of keeping up with everything I have on the go.

For a quick catch-up; Thursday was a fairly standard, after-school work and evening game night at the Inn day. Friday's highlight was the sleepover that Rowen and I had at her house, and Saturday was pretty quiet; though I got a lot of work done too – including a couple of hours in the afternoon working on the future plan with Ethan and Ehlana while Mom and Dad were busy in the office. Saturday ended up like that because Mom and Dad decided to take us to the Maple Valley WinterFest today after church; changing their original plan for a Saturday trip when the weather forecast called for a much warmer second-half of the weekend. That worked out great for Rowen too, since her parents could go along with us, with the slight downside of having Patrick – and Scott Faulkner – along for the outing too.

'We' also included Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, Aunt Deborah, and Nick; and we headed out for Maple Valley as soon as everyone had gotten changed after church and met up again at our house. The WinterFest was just as much fun as last year, and though we didn't have quite as much time to spend there this time around; we did manage to get around to most of the shows and exhibits. With the unusually warm winter, the top stories around Maple Valley were all about the season being early and the 'crop' being light this year. The higher prices and dwindling supply of Maple Syrup and the other Maple confections attested to that reality, but we were still able to pick up more cases of the syrup, boxes of cookies, and a few treats along the way – like Maple-dip donuts. After enjoying a pancakes and sausages lunch, I can assure you that the syrup is just as delicious as last year!

There wasn't going to be an adult date night and kid sleepover after we got home from the festival, but our first stop in Witch Falls was at the Inn; getting there just in time for the start of the late buffet. We were a few bottles of Maple Syrup lighter by the time we got home, but more than made up for that thanks to another great meal and a few new happy memories. We were on our own after dinner, and Mom and Dad set me free to hit the Jacuzzi, get a bit of work done, and hopefully be sleeping before midnight for a change.

It's only a bit after eleven now, and I do want to get some extra rest tonight, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Happy Birthday to everyone lucky enough to officially have one birthday every four years! (No, Eleanor Byrd doesn't have that excuse)

Having the extra day in February did give me more time to work; though Rowen and I did get to play for a couple of hours after school first. Mom had a long Transmutation lesson for me after dinner, and I've been working on my Japanese and some archive studies since coming up to bed.

There really isn't anything exciting to report from around town or with the family so far this week, and I'm really tired out now, so I'll just wrap this up with...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

P.S. I was thinking about how crazy the whole modern time system is, but since nobody really seems interested in changing to something more logical; I'll just leave it alone instead of boring you with my ideas for fixing things so we don't have pesky little quirks like extra leap-year days. (No, I'm not suggesting that I just time-phase the whole planet every now and then – though that would be cool if I could!)

March 2012

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Yes, I've been slacking off on a couple of things, including my journal updates, but there really hasn't been much to report about so far in March.

The only thing worth mentioning from Thursday and Friday is the charity work that Mom, Aunt Leanne, Miranda, and I all worked on to do what we could to help the relief efforts being sent to the states, cities, and towns hardest hit by the storms and tornados that have been sweeping through some of the mid-west states. We even skipped the movie part of our dinner and a movie on Friday night so we could work on that instead.

Rowen and I celebrated our first anniversary yesterday – the anniversary of our finding out about each other being Magi. We had a play afternoon; and a sleepover at her house. Patrick had Scott overnight too, but even their attempts to bug us were mostly just fun, and we definitely had one of those really great days.

Grandpa Grant and Eleanor Byrd got home from South America yesterday too, and they were the most popular couple at church today – especially since it was the first time that most of their friends and neighbors had to congratulate – or tease – them about their engagement. Mom had been getting regular updates during their trip, and Ethan, Ehlana, and I kept up with that, but it was definitely because of seeing them today that we ended up spending a lot of our afternoon future planning session talking about the archives, and working on that part of our plans. We had a few other details to work out too, but by the time we wrapped up so I could help Mom with making dinner, everything we needed to have done for what we're thinking of as 'phase one' was ready to go.

Mom and I did another long Magi lesson after dinner while Dad played with the twins, and I've been multi-tasking my Jacuzzi and language and archive study time since helping with Ethan and Ehlana's bath and bedtime routine. One of the other things that I've been slacking on has been keeping up with the entertainment updates, and while I am doing this journal entry tonight; it's late, and I'm skipping that again. Hopefully, my reputation will survive the lack of knowledge of the most critical current events, but I'm just too tired to bother with the extra surfing. It's definitely time to get some sleep, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Happy Birthday, Uncle Adam!

The birthday dinner was at our house, mostly because Uncle Adam and Aunt Deborah still had their Wednesday night clinic shift; and also so it'd be easier for Mom to take care of Ethan and Ehlana while she and Aunt Leanne were busy cooking. We had nearly the same group as last year for this party, along with a few additions – like Nick and Aunt Deborah. That was fun, and I got to have Rowen stay for dinner too after we were drafted to help after school; but the best part of the night was when Uncle Adam got back to the house after working at the clinic. That's when Ethan, Ehlana, and I got to spring our little birthday surprise on him, Aunt Leanne, Mom, and Dad.

This is a good time to put my photographic memory to use here, and just record the entire conversation.

***

"We – Ethan, Ehlana, and I – have another birthday present for you," I told Uncle Adam; handing him the wrapped gift after we'd all gotten comfortable on the sofas in the living room. He and Aunt Leanne had Ehlana to cuddle with, and I was sitting with them while Ethan was with Mom and Dad on the other sofa.

"I'm already on birthday overload," Uncle Adam advised us with a smile as he started to tear the wrapping paper.

"We'll see if you still think so in a few minutes," Ehlana joked telepathically once I'd put up my wards around the room.

"This is your future," he read aloud after pulling our little booklet from the last bits of wrapping paper. After opening the cover, he looked up at me in surprise while turning the booklet so we could all see the map I'd made up of Witch Falls.

"You're giving Adam Witch Falls?" Aunt Leanne joked. "I didn't know it was up for sale."

"And there seems to be quite a bit more to our little town on this map than we have now," Dad added.

"Well, this is supposed to be Adam's future," Mom pointed out. She smiled at me, and didn't look particularly surprised. "You've been busy," she added; directing that at all three of her kids.

"We needed to tell all of you about some of the things we see for our future, and thought this would be a fun way to do that," Ethan said, directing that telepathic comment toward our parents, aunt, and uncle.

"Witch Falls hasn't changed much in size in nearly a century," Aunt Leanne pointed out. "How far into the future are you going with that map?"

"Not very," I answered. "The next few years are going to be a lot of fun."

Uncle Adam put the booklet in his lap and turned to the next page. "Why don't you give us the condensed version while your uncle is busy reading?" Mom suggested.

"We can do that," I agreed. "Why don't you start, Ehlana?"

"Okay," she agreed enthusiastically; both aloud and telepathically before continuing to talk silently. "The big projects we need to start working on are the lab and archives; the new medical center; and the new residential part of town that we'll need for the extra people that will be living here in Witch Falls."

"Dr. Mark!" Uncle Adam exclaimed in amazement; looking up and focusing his attention on Ehlana. "Are my grandparents going to decide to replace me after all?"

Ehlana laughed happily. "Not that we've seen," she assured him. "Uncle Mark is going to be your partner."

"Uncle Mark?" Aunt Leanne asked quickly; her smile flashing brilliantly as she suspected where that was leading.

"Oops," Ehlana said with a telepathic laugh. "Okay, future Uncle Mark," she amended. "That's one of the reasons we needed to talk with you now. Aunt Grace and Mark definitely need to fall in love sooner than later – if they're not there already – and you need to talk them into coming here to live and work."

"It's a good thing that you've got a couple of good jobs," Uncle Adam told Aunt Leanne. "I'll only need to work part time with two doctors in town."

"Read on," Ethan suggested. "You'll be busy enough between working at the med center and lab. While you're reading the boring details about that, Mom and I can talk about bringing the archives home."

"They've been split up for a very good reason," Mom told him, "and you're talking about a huge undertaking to make that happen. Are you sure about doing that, and why now?"

"We're sure," Ethan answered confidently, "and the reason for the now is because it's going to take years to make that happen – and to build the lab and archive. Witch Falls is going to be Magi Central, and we're going to need the archives here for all of us."

"Plus we'll be able to protect them better now that we have help," Ehlana added.

"That's true," Mom conceded, "but the digital archives – or at least the parts of them that can be used by most Magi – will be easier for most of our friends to use."

"Bringing the archives here will mostly be for me, Mom," Ethan explained. "That's going to be my future."

"The world's least known; and most important librarian," Ehlana joked with another mental laugh.

"Archivist – and Magi teacher," I amended,

"You say tomato," Ehlana deadpanned. "I'm just glad that won't be my job."

"There are reasons why we have our particular talents and interests," Ethan countered. "Your job's going to be cooler than mine; but I can always play in the lab too if I need a break from the books."

"We're getting a bit ahead of things," I told them. "You can talk with Mom about what you want to start with for the archives another time, and Ehlana can do the same with Mom and Uncle Adam for the lab." I looked at how far Uncle Adam was into reading the booklet before continuing. "It looks like Uncle Adam is through the section about the lab, so he knows that Aunt Grace is supposed to be the CEO for the company we'll need to start up for it. I'm fairly sure that we can make her an offer she won't refuse." I smiled at Aunt Leanne. "If you missed it on the map; they're supposed to be your river side neighbors in that new section of town."

"None of that land is part of the town now," Aunt Leanne pointed out. "That could take years to appropriate from the Ridge River District."

I shrugged and shook my head. "We're going to trade them the tax base from a wind and solar energy farm at one of the old quarries to get the land annexation. Don't worry – we've got that all figured out; and it really won't take long at all – especially since there are only two families that own the property we'll need; and one of those families is ours."

"You have been doing your homework," she told us approvingly. "So what else do we need to work on to get all of this started? I'm sure there's a why for everything too, but maybe I don't want to know all of those answers quite yet."

"We're sure you don't," Ehlana agreed. "Just like there are things we would like to know less about."

"That sounds ominous," Dad said; smiling when he looked down and saw Ethan grinning at him.

"Ehlana's referring to the boyfriends and girlfriend thing for us," he explained silently. "Only two out of three of those will be ominous for you."

"I wonder which two," Aunt Leanne joked, "and which guys and girl?"

"The bad news is that you don't need to know that yet and we won't need your matchmaking services," I answered with a grin. "The good news is that you'll have other matches to make and be entertained with instead."

"Can you give me any hints on that?"

"We'll need one of your cousins matched up with one of the boys in town," Ehlana told her.

"Deborah and Nick are already matched; and so are Violet and Dillon. Mark isn't from town; and you want him paired up with Grace; so you can't mean her. Isn't it a bit early for Dawn, Jaimie, or Kaitlyn? Rick and Blaine wouldn't be amused if I started setting them up with boys here already – they're still making jokes about Violet and Dillon."

"You do have other cousins now," Ehlana reminded her, but since you brought up Violet, Dillon, and Uncle Blaine; let's talk about them next. They are three of the main reasons we needed to talk with you about this now."

"You need an architect for all of this, so I'll guess that's why you want Blaine," Dad suggested. "What do you see for Violet and Dillon?"

"A Magi bio-engineer for lab in Dillon," Ehlana answered.

"And a future second in command for Aunt Grace in Violet," Ethan added; finishing Ehlana's thought. "We need to nudge them into college majors in time for them to have the right courses picked for their senior year of high school."

"Especially for Dillon," I added. "He hasn't been thinking about a research-type career because there isn't anything like that available here. A few hints about Uncle Adam starting up a research lab should get him thinking in the right direction; and Mom can just make sure Violet knows she has a guaranteed job after getting her business degree even if we don't tell her it will be working with Aunt Grace quite yet."

"That'd be easier if we could just let them know that they're both Magi," Ethan suggested.

"Give them time," Mom counseled. "What we've done so far is coming a bit fast for them. You may find that they'll be your biggest obstacle with all of these plans."

"I'll just get Ehlana and Cassie to hug and kiss them into submission," Ethan joked. "The Ascension of the Light is coming, and when it happens; Witch Falls is going to be the center of Magi power whether they like it or not."

"We'll all like it a lot once we get there," Ehlana declared confidently.

"So we need to get Blaine to design a research lab and archive; a new medical building; and a new residential addition to town," Aunt Leanne summarized. "We'll need to buy some land; annex all of it from the Ridge River District; and eventually get construction crews to build everything. On the personal side of things, we need to get Grace and Mark together and moved to town; nudge Violet and Dillon into education paths they'll need for their roles in the future big picture; and work on some unspecified matchmaking. Anything else?"

"Grandpa Grant and Grandma-to-be Eleanor will be changing their archive trips to start bringing everything home instead of just checking all of the archives," Ethan added, "but I'll go over all of that with Mom later this week."

"Grandma-to-be?" Mom asked with a laugh. "Isn't that impossible for a twenty-nine year old?"

"She has great-grandchildren old enough to do the math already," Ethan pointed out. "She may complain about it, but everyone will start calling her Grandma Eleanor in the not-to-distant future."

"Like right after the wedding," Aunt Leanne predicted. "Are you about finished reading?" she asked Uncle Adam.

He smiled and looked up at her; then closed the booklet. "I can finish it later. This all sounds amazing, but I have a feeling that this is one birthday present that is going to take a lot of work to assemble."

"And you thought that your first model airplanes and cars were tough," Dad joked.

"We did add a 'some assembly required' disclaimer in the booklet," Ehlana advised them. "Inside; back cover."

Uncle Adam flipped the back cover open; laughed; and turned it so Mom, Dad, and Aunt Leanne could see that we had actually done that. "Possibly the understatement of the year. Especially since we're supposed to do a lot of this within the next six years or so."

"You'll need to time-phase the whole town," Aunt Leanne told us.

"We'll have more than enough help," I assured her. "It seems like a lot right now, but you do have four Magi Masters here, and we will have a lot more Magi adding their talents too. You're going to be amazed with what we can all do when we really start using our abilities instead of just mostly playing with our Magi powers."

"That's more than a little scary for those of us who have been taught to hide our abilities from everyone," Dad told me.

"We'll still be hiding our abilities from most non-Magi," Ethan said telepathically with a shake of his head, "but that doesn't mean we won't be able to use our powers too."

"I get the feeling there's a lot more you're not telling us about this future you see," Mom deduced.

"That's true," I agreed, "but this is all we're supposed to tell you about for now. Isn't this enough for one night?"

"Yes and no," Mom answered. "These plans are leaping decades beyond anything we've dreamed about so far."

"In a brilliant way," Uncle Adam added. "Not to mention the never dreamed of parts – like having Mark and Grace live here in Witch Falls."

"When do we need to spring that on them?" Aunt Leanne asked.

"According to my little plan here; by the end of this coming summer," Adam answered. "Can you have them married and moved here by the end of next summer?"

"No problem," she agreed with a laugh. "That's way more time than we needed for us."

"We were both living here," he reminded her. "Getting Mark to move here from Seattle might be a bit tougher."

"If marrying Grace, working with you, and living happily ever after isn't enough for him; we'll use Olde Bakery treats and Sunday night buffets at the Inn to bribe him," Aunt Leanne declared.

"He doesn't stand a chance, and has no idea that his fate is already sealed," Dad joked. "Maybe we should warn him, Adam. You are his best friend after all."

"I wouldn't want to break any man-laws over this, but there is no way that I'm going to get between Leanne and a matchmaking opportunity," Adam told him. "As long as the happily ever after thing works out for them, I'm sure Mark will forgive me."

***

That pretty much covers the main points of everything we talked about, and the next part of that conversation included some discussion about Aunt Leanne taking Uncle Adam home for reasons we don't need to cover in my journal; so we'll leave it there. We did talk for nearly another half hour, and then after our Aunt and Uncle went home, I helped Mom and Dad with Ethan and Ehlana's bedtime routine; and have been in bed, working on my computer, since then.

My Japanese chat sessions are getting better every time, and I read a novel and wrote a book report on it in Japanese too. I should be ready to start another language soon while continuing to master Japanese. Maybe I'll do that after March break. For now, though, it's been a long day and I'm ready to crash, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Mom, Dad, and I have been up late tonight, so I'm going to keep this fairly short.

Since our big news reveal for Uncle Adam's birthday, Ethan, Ehlana, and I have all been keeping busy. For me, that's meant added work to the usual load while we've mostly talked in much more detail about those future plans with Mom, Dad, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Leanne. We're not the only members of the family keeping busier than usual. Dad's been working on this while putting in long days getting ready for his week in Crystal Springs; Mom is trying to get extra family business out of the way too, since she'll need to be busier with the twins while Dad is away; and thanks in part to the weather, Aunt Leanne has an early start to the spring real estate and rental moves business.

Rowen and I have managed to fit in a bit of play time around the work, and with Mom and Dad both busy working most of this weekend; we had a pair of play afternoons that included playing with Ethan and Ehlana to help entertain them while the parents were working in the office. There isn't anything to report from school this week, and with a week left to go until March Break; it's getting tougher for our teachers to keep us motivated to concentrate on our studies.

That reminds me that Violet will be coming home in less than five days now! I'm sure that Dillon is more excited about that than I am, but it is going to be great having Violet here for a whole week. Hopefully, she'll even get some time to hang out with Rowen and me a few times when Dillon's working at the Inn. It's after one now, though, and I can think about March Break fun another time. Right now, I seriously need some sleep, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Friday, March 16, 2012

March Break is here – and so is Violet!

That more than made up for skipping our usual Friday dinner and a movie night, though Rowen and I are having a first night of the break sleepover.

Violet got to Witch Falls in time to have dinner with us, and Dad got back from Crystal Springs nearly two hours before Dillon finished a long dinner shift at the Inn and finally got to meet up with Violet before they moved on to spending the rest of the evening with Jake and Stephanie at the Stone's house.

I should take a minute and recap the week, though there isn't much to write about. With Dad in the city, Mom and I were both busy. I helped out as much as I could with Ethan and Ehlana after school and in the evenings. We had extra-long Magi lessons every night so that Mom could skip our lessons during March Break and concentrate on working with Violet. I put in extra time on my family business work so I could take most of next week off too, and since I was up late doing that anyway; I multi-tasked that work with chats in Japanese. One off-shoot of my language lessons is that Mom is starting to get me involved in some extra businesses where my new language skills can help out with translating and interpreting; including helping Aunt Leanne and Miranda with interests they're managing in Japan. Since that's going to be a big part of my future, it's a good thing that I love the work!

Anyway, back to the more recent now; it was great getting to have Violet to ourselves for a few hours. We'd talked about having Dawn, and Chris and Martin, come with Violet for the week; but the boys didn't want to miss out on the plans they had with their friends, and Mom and Aunt Melissa decided that it would be easier for Mom to do her lessons with Violet without having to work around Dawn. It would have been fun to have Dawn here too, but even without her here, I'm sure Mom and Violet will still need to juggle to find time for those Magi lessons – especially when spending time with Dillon is probably a bit higher on Violet's priority list than the lessons; her job; or hanging out with younger cousins.

Thankfully, I do still have my bff to hang out with, and after Violet and Dillon left to meet up with Jake and Stephanie; Rowen and I moved up to my room – to the lounge – and got on with our sleepover. We've been in the lounge chatting telepathically with Mandy; watching a movie; and surfing the net on our computers for the past couple of hours. Staying up until after Violet and Dillon get home again so we can sneak downstairs and tease them is an option, but we're both tired; and getting some extra sleep is more tempting, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie, Rowen, and Mandy giving Violet and Dillon a break, and signing off!

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Happy Birthday, Mom!

There were quite a few gifts for Mom today, but I'm fairly sure that the presents she loved the most were, in this order, Ethan and Ehlana's 'no more nursing needed' gift; the no-work weekend; and the no-kids-at-home night that Ethan, Ehlana, and I seriously do not want to know the details about.

Ethan and Ehlana's no-nursing gift was Mom's first of the day, and prompted the second; which was both a present and a Magi Healing lesson for me. She'd shown me how to precisely control the amount of breast milk she needed to produce for Ethan and Ehlana, and completely stopping that production wasn't really much different – just a lot faster than letting it happen naturally. The rest of the healing from nearly nine months of nursing twins didn't take long either, but at my age, that was one of the stranger lessons; and while I'm glad that Mom's so happy, I am also not going to think much about the why for that. Let's move on, shall we?

Tai Chi was out by the river, and Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne joined us for that – and for breakfast. Mom and Aunt Leanne were set free after eating to shower and get ready for a pampering morning with Vicki and Liz at the salon while Dad, Uncle Adam, Violet, and I started our work morning with the kitchen cleanup; supervised by Ethan and Ehlana. By the time we were finished doing that, Alicia had come over, and she took care of the twins while our work party continued both inside and outdoors. Uncle Adam went home to work there while Violet and I started on the house work and laundry; and Dad mostly worked in the back yard. His chores included getting three canoes ready; checking over a few bikes; cleaning the grill and getting the tank filled; and taking care of some early spring yard work. I helped out with that by mid-morning – sweeping the porches and sidewalks; raking the paths; and washing windows and doors.

Uncle Adam came back in time to help Dad with our barbeque lunch plans, and when Mom and Aunt Leanne got back from the salon; Alicia was set free – mostly because she would need the break before joining her friends for another mass babysitting night – this time at the Emerson's house. Rowen came over from the store in time to have lunch with us, and then we spent the afternoon playing with everyone until it was time to get ready for Mom's birthday dinner party at the Inn. We went for a short canoe ride; played at the park; and had an ice cream break at the Emporium that just happened to be timed perfectly for Dillon's afternoon break before the dinner rush at the Inn.

Violet, Ethan, Ehlana, and I also had to get our overnight bags packed, and I dropped mine off at Rowen's house before we all walked over to the Inn. Dad and Aunt Leanne hadn't really set up a particularly big dinner party, but there were a lot of their friends going to Sheldon's; and that ended up giving Miranda and Jacob a full dining room that was about as busy as nearly every Sunday night. Our party included the Emersons, Seagers, and Greens; plus Aunt Deborah and Nick. Rowen and I ended up at a 'kids' table next to Mom and Dad, and we had fun hanging out with some of our friends while our parents were hanging out with their dinner guests.

Having the babysitting service at Rowen's house seemed a bit strange, and we didn't have my lounge for the girls to hide out in from the boys, but Alicia and her friends managed to mostly control Patrick and the other guys; and we had a fun night that included games, movies, and a lot of running around and goofing off. Rowen and I went to bed by a bit after eleven, and have been chatting and surfing since then. Rowen's had to chase off Patrick and Scott a few times too, but they've probably gone to sleep now since they haven't bothered us in about twenty minutes now.

I thought about staying up to see Aunt Leanne and Uncle Adam when they come to get Ethan and Ehlana, but Rowen's nodding off, and I'm tired too, so instead of doing that; I'm going to wrap this up and get some sleep.

Live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

I was on my own for Tai Chi this morning, but it was beautiful outside, and I loved having a bit of time to myself before the breakfast rush. The Emersons didn't have a huge gang to feed, but it was still hectic sharing bathroom time and getting everything else done in time to walk over to the church.

Starting out our March Break with Mom's birthday – and Violet's week-long visit 'home' – has been great, and the fun continued today. Dad had to hide in the office and work all afternoon, but since their boys were busy working; Mom and Violet were free to play with Rowen, Ethan, Ehlana, and me. With a summer-weather kind of day to enjoy, we went for a canoe ride; played at the park; and had ice cream treats from the Emporium while wandering around by the falls. With her weekend off still in effect, Mom didn't have to worry about making dinner or any cleanups, though I didn't escape helping out.

Rowen went home for the night in time for dinner, and after a few long days; I'm ready for an early bed and bath time. This journal entry is being written Telekinetically while I'm wrapping up my Jacuzzi session. I plan on being asleep soon, and don't have much else to report, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Sunday, March 25, 2012

How time flies when you're having fun!

I've mostly taken the week off to play, but we're back to school in the morning, and it's time to get back to the usual routine again.

Violet went home after lunch today since Dillon was working anyway. She seems to be doing okay; probably because she'll be back again in just eleven days for the Easter long weekend. I wasn't involved much in the training she did with Mom this week; but they did apparently get a lot done even with everything else they both had on the go.

The weather was nice again this weekend, but we had a lot of rain to put a damper on things off and on from Monday to Friday. That meant that Rowen and I had a fair bit of indoor play time, and mostly stayed in the lounge whenever we couldn't be outside. Compared to last year – my first March Break in Witch Falls – this has been a fairly quiet week. In fact, I really don't have much interesting to report since last Sunday.

We are going to get back to working on our 'future plans' this week, and while Mom, Dad, Aunt Leanne, and Uncle Adam have more to do with that right now; Ethan, Ehlana, and I will help out as much as needed too. I'm going to start learning another language tomorrow night, and have a couple of new projects for the family business that should keep me busy for a while too. Since I am going to be very busy for the next few weeks, I'm going to get to bed early tonight, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Friday, March 30, 2012

Happy 17th Birthday, Jake!

For some reason, he and Stephanie didn't think that they needed anyone else at his birthday party; and they're actually going to have that party tomorrow in Crystal Springs. Jake did seem to be having a fun day at school, and hopefully the present, hug, and kiss I had for him helped out with that – especially since I got teased a lot about that for the rest of the day.

That, game night at the Inn last night, and tonight's dinner and a movie at home has been about all the non-work fun I've had this week. My German lessons have started out well, and the family business is keeping me busy too, but I'm loving the work I'm doing right now. Rain and life got in the way of spending much time playing with Rowen this week, and we're both going to be busy with our own things most of the weekend too – including not getting to do dinner and a movie night together.

With the Easter weekend just a week away, Mom and Dad have a big Spring cleanup day planned for tomorrow, so I'll be busy with that all day. Tonight, it was nice to just have a few hours to hang out with the parents, aunts, uncles, and Ethan and Ehlana. Wedding plans were a big part of the dinner conversation, and while I'm not really in the loop for Aunt Deborah and Nick's wedding; it's nice to know that everything is on track. It wasn't quite as much fun to have Aunt Leanne discuss potential dates for me to invite to the reception, but I'm apparently the only one who didn't find her comments hilarious. Just for the record – I am definitely not taking a date to the wedding or reception!

Moving along, I've been playing on my computer since coming up to my room and getting ready for bed, but since we do have the big yard work day starting bright and early, I'm going to call it a night.

Live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Saturday, March 31, 2012

The big news in town today was Brandon Green's early arrival to proud parents Heather and Adam Green. Brandon was six weeks early, and only a few of us know that Uncle Adam needed to use his Magi Healing on Brandon to save him from what would have been some very unpleasant weeks or months at the hospital in Crystal Springs. Mom and I didn't help out with that, but Uncle Adam did have Mom check up on Brandon after dinner to make sure he didn't miss anything important. Heather and Brandon will likely be at the clinic for at least a few days, but that's mostly to give Heather a chance to recover, and for appearances with Brandon; since he really doesn't need to stay in the incubator for long.

Compared to that, our Spring cleanup day seems – and was – boring. Mom, Dad, and I worked from shortly after eight until we stopped for dinner at around six-thirty. I'm exhausted; but the gardens and yard look awesome! I get tomorrow afternoon off, but since Mom and Dad are both going to work, and Rowen's busy; Ethan, Ehlana, and I will probably just hang out together; and maybe do a bit of work on the future plan. I've had enough for today, though, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

April 2012

Sunday, April 1, 2012

I was going to leave this journal entry blank as an April Fool's Day joke; but after a few pranks before and after church, and a couple more at the park while Ethan, Ehlana, and I were there; I've had enough of that kind of fun for at least another year.

The only news from around town to report today is an update on Heather and Brandon Green. Uncle Adam and Aunt Deborah have been taking turns staying at the clinic with them, along with some extra help from Heather's and Adam's friends and families. Uncle Adam is sure that they'll be home, at the very latest, in time for Easter. Rowen and I have volunteered to join the crew that is going to be helping Heather, but we probably won't have much to do until after they get home.

When we weren't being pranked at the park, Ethan, Ehlana, and I had a fun afternoon while the parents were busy working in the office. We walked the paths around the park; played on the swings and slides; and had our afternoon snack on the dock. We spent an hour in the lounge before dinner working on our future plans, and then we spent the evening with Mom and Dad after that. I've been on my own since coming upstairs to spend a bit of quality time with my Jacuzzi, and have been splitting my computer time between a bit of family business work and the usual entertainment and email checks while having a couple of chats – one in German, and the other in Japanese.

I promised myself an early (before midnight) bedtime, and it's getting there fast now, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

I've been doing a lot of work this week, but the good news is that the worst of it is over, and we're ready for the long weekend break. Violet sent me an email to let me know that she's already packed and ready to come here right from school tomorrow. She's going to miss Easter dinner with Aunt Melissa's family, and a Rice family barbeque on Saturday; but those plans couldn't compete with another few days hanging out with Dillon and her Witch Falls friends.

After school, I was helping Mom with the housework, so I had to wait until after Ethan and Ehlana went to bed to start on my family business work. I haven't had much to do with Easter-related business for a while now, but gearing up for summer, and even (gasp) back-to-school planning is keeping me busy. I'm putting in extra time tonight so that I can take the weekend off, and Rowen worked at the store today so she'll only have to work there on Saturday morning for a while.

I took the night off from studying German or Japanese, but did a bit of extra work the last two nights. My archive work has been a bit slow too, but that's more because the sections I'm going through are fairly technical – and tedious. Falling asleep while working through the material has been a problem, though I did manage to get through a thousand pages tonight without nodding off. It's after two, though, and time to call it a night, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Thursday, April 5, 2012

I love a short school week as much as the next kid, but this long weekend seems a bit strange compared to the Easter weekend last year. Violet is the only member of our family spending the weekend with us, and Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne don't have anyone from his family coming home this weekend. Grandma and Grandpa won't be back from their winter vacation for another five or six weeks, so it seems very quiet compared to the crazy rush during those last couple of weeks before Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne's wedding.

That isn't all bad, since Rowen and I will have more time to spend together, and we won't have to rush around all weekend. After Mrs. Warren set us free, we had snack time with Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana; and then we biked over to the park to play until dinnertime. There wasn't a game night at the Inn tonight, but since Violet got home in time to have dinner with us, and Dillon was working; that just gave us time to visit with her and for Mom to do a Magi lesson that Ethan, Ehlana, and I got to do with Violet.

Dillon joined us for the bedtime snack and story, and then I was politely sent off to my room after the twins were tucked into their cribs. I got the hint right away, and though Mom and Dad did stay up and talk with Violet and Dillon for a while, it wasn't long before there was only one couple left cuddling together in the living room.

I've been reading in the archives since getting into bed and cuddling with Mandy; including reading some of the Magi journals that Mom used to put together the Magi Easter story she gave to the Magi Council last year. With everything the Magi back then had to deal with, I think that doing nothing during the events surrounding Jesus' crucifixion might have been the hardest to handle. I don't know if I could have been strong enough to endure watching that happen while knowing it was something I had the power to stop. Since He had the same power – and much more – and that's the point of His choice and sacrifice. Everything Mom and I have been through certainly pales by comparison, but one thing I am thinking about tonight is that Jesus had many times of joy and happiness, and this Easter, I'm very grateful for everything Mom and I now have since coming to Witch Falls.

Okay, that's enough of deep thoughts for tonight. It's time to get some sleep, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Friday, April 6, 2012

Being a Magi Master and an eleven-year old kid colors my perspective for everything, but I notice it more on days like today. Good Friday is a very solemn time for many, if not most, Christians. Pastors Lewis and Martha led us through a very subdued and emotional service, but after going home and getting changed; Rowen and I met up again with the rest of a beautiful spring day ahead of us to enjoy. While it's not quite the same thing, I feel the same way about Good Friday as I now do about Memorial Day – thanks to my family and friends in Witch Falls. Remembering and honoring Jesus' sacrifice is important, but so is celebrating the lives we have today because of that ultimate gift of Grace.

Rowen and I spent a lot of time at the park, including taking Ethan and Ehlana there for an hour or so while Mom and Violet worked on a lesson. Dillon was coming for dinner with us, and we were having Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and the Emersons over for a barbeque too. Aunt Deborah and Nick were busy with his family, and it seemed very quiet without having the usual big family long-weekend meals, but we did all enjoy having a few hours to just hang out together. Rowen stayed for a sleepover even though she was working at the store in the morning, and we've been in the lounge watching a movie, surfing the web, and talking with Mandy since helping to put Ethan and Ehlana to bed.

That's pretty much all the news from here for today, and Rowen and I are ready to get some sleep, so I'll wrap this up too.

Live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Time for a condensed, Easter weekend, update.

With the family away, Mom and Dad kept me busy with yard work play yesterday morning. Violet helped Mom with the twins, and they did another lesson, before she left to spend time with Dillon before he went to work at the Inn. The work wasn't all that exciting, but we made up for that with an afternoon trail ride at the Ridge River Ranch that Aunt Leanne, Uncle Adam, and Rowen joined us for while Ethan and Ehlana spent a couple of hours with Aunt Deborah, Nick, and Naomi.

We had a quiet dinner and night at home after that, and it's been nearly non-stop action all day today; starting with Ethan and Ehlana's first visit from the Easter Bunny. Note to the parental units – use extreme caution when feeding chocolate to twin Magi Masters! Easter basket fun was followed by the sunrise service at church; the pancake breakfast; and the regular church service an hour later than normal. After that, we had a short lunch break, and then it was time to take the show on the road to Aunt Leanne and Uncle Adam's house. They were hosting the Easter dinner, and while Violet was going to be spending most of the afternoon with Dillon and his family; Uncle Adam's parents and grandparents came over for the afternoon, and Aunt Deborah and Nick were splitting their time between his family and hers. Two Easter dinners in one day may sound great in theory, but I'm sure they were both on food overload by the time they 'rolled' on home after the cleanup from meal number two wrapped up shortly after eight.

I didn't need to be rolled home, but it has been a long day, and I'm ready to drop, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, passing out and signing off!

Sunday, April 15, 2012

We're back to the usual daily routine now that Easter is past, and the next holiday weekend is nearly two months away.

In local news, Patrick had his ninth birthday last Monday, and I helped him celebrate by having Rowen stay at my house for a sleepover while he had his buddies at their house. We didn't escape the birthday party and dinner, and managed to get through the experience without using our Magi powers on any of the boys. Talking about what we could have done to them did provide some bedtime entertainment, and by morning, we were ready to wade back into the boy-zone and help Rowen's parents with getting Patrick and his friends fed and off to school.

We had another birthday boy in our class this week too, but twelfth birthdays haven't started to be co-ed yet, so Gil's party on Thursday didn't affect the social schedule for Rowen and me. We did get him a card and small gift, like we did for all of our friends and classmates, and he got razzed about it just like the rest of the guys did on their birthdays. I'm not sure whether to be glad that this phase will be over for the boys soon or afraid of what comes next!

Moving on from that thought, I've been keeping busy all week; juggling school, the family business, Magi lessons, archive and language studies, and the rest of my usual work and play. Dad's been busy all weekend getting ready for his week in the city; though we managed to fit in a couple of hours of yard work between raindrops on Saturday. Rowen's parents were busy with the height of tax season all weekend, so she helped them out as much as she could, and we didn't get to spend much time together.

That doesn't sound like a very exciting week, but I got a lot done, and did have fun. I've also had late nights nearly every day, and am ready to get some extra sleep tonight, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Dillon's seventeenth birthday was on Monday, and while I'm sure he loved the gift that Violet had me hand-deliver to him, and the gift that Ethan, Ehlana, and I got him; my hug and kiss wasn't much compared to the hug and kiss he wished he could be getting from his girlfriend instead. His parents and friends took care of the rest of his birthday entertainment, and while they were having fun; I got started on a busy week of work and studying.

With Dad away in Crystal Springs; Mom and I tag-teamed taking care of Ethan and Ehlana with some help from Aunt Leanne and some of our friends. That meant that a lot of our work and studying didn't get started until after the twins went to bed each night, and I've been up until at least one o'clock every night this week. We took breaks for game night at the Inn on Thursday, and dinner and a movie on Friday night; but we had a long, all-day yard work session on Saturday. Dad had to spend most of Sunday working in the office, so Ethan, Ehlana, and I spent some of that time with Rowen, and the rest working on our future plans.

I haven't written much about that lately, but what we're working on now is fairly boring, even as it's exciting to see everything coming together too. Aunt Leanne is going to have the land purchases we need done over the next couple or three months, and we're all getting presentations ready that Mom, Dad, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Leanne will be taking to both the Magi and town councils after Grandma and Grandpa get home from their winter getaway. By the Memorial Day weekend, we'll be ready to really start having some fun with all of it!

Anyway, that's all for this week, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Wedding talk and action has been in the air this week; mostly with Mom and Aunt Leanne helping Aunt Deborah with her wedding plans. Aunt Deborah and Aunt Leanne were in Crystal Springs yesterday too; meeting the other girls in the bridal party to be fitted for their gowns.

All of that has reminded me that there seems to be a lot of weddings going on this summer. Grandpa Grant and Eleanor Byrd are first up on the last weekend of June, followed by Jared Spencer and Amy White the following weekend. Aunt Deborah and Nick have their big day two weeks after that; with Rob and Trish's wedding on August eleventh. I'm only officially invited to Aunt Deborah and Nick's wedding, but Rowen and I plan on going to the ceremonies for Grandpa Grant and Eleanor's, and Amy and Jared's weddings. Having Amy as my very first teacher in Witch Falls is only one of the reasons why she's still my very favorite.

I wasn't really involved at all with those wedding plans, and have been spending extra time working on the family business and my studies; mostly because I'm already getting set up so I'll be ready for more fun time during summer vacation. Yes, it is just the end of April, but we have just under seven weeks left until school's out, and a holiday weekend between now and then. Add to that the start of baseball season, with our first practice on Tuesday, and I'm going to be busier than ever!

That really does have me feeling like summer is just around the corner, even though the weather this week has ranged from summer-like to near-winter – a very strange end to April, and not particularly good for May flowers either.

Mom keeps up with the journal for Ethan and Ehlana's education, just as she does for me, but since I'm thinking about things like summer and the end of this school year, I should mention that my precocious little brother and sister have just wrapped up their Grade Six education, and are shooting for finishing Grade Eight by their first birthday. It's weird thinking about them being that far along in their education already, but they're only a bit ahead of where I was at their age, and they'll be playing regular student eventually too. The price we have to pay for our secret Magi Master identities!

This pretty much puts a wrap on things for April, and we are really going to be having some fun in May – especially with our future plans. Mother's Day and the Memorial Day long weekend will be great too, and it looks like everyone from our family and Uncle Adam's will be home for the holiday weekend this year. I should probably rest up a bit extra for that, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

May 2012

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Baseball been berry berry good to me!

That was supposed to be a great start to this journal entry; the first day of May; and the first practice for what Rowen and I hope will be the best team in our division for our last year before we move up to the next level. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate, and our practice was cancelled because of rain. We did find out that Claire will be our coach again, which is great; but we'll have one less week to get ready for our first game in June.

Since baseball was out for the night, Mom did a Magi lesson with me instead, and I put in a bit of extra time on my family business work and language study. The good part of that is I'm finished everything I wanted to get done today already, and once I wrap this up; I'm heading to bed – about three hours earlier than usual for a weeknight.

There isn't much else going on worth reporting this week from around town or with the family. Mom and Dad are both going to play baseball this year, and Rowen and I will likely be babysitting Ethan and Ehlana during their practices and games, but unless the weather forecast turns around by tomorrow; their first practice will be scratched too. If we do have rain all day tomorrow, Rowen and I will probably both move our Thursday work day up, and take the after-school play time when the weather's better.

For now, I'm good with getting the extra sleep, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

It's been a wild first week of May; and not just because of the weather today, which went from beautiful to stormy to sunny and warm again just between morning Tai Chi and lunchtime.

The news highlights for the week include Stephanie's seventeenth, and Sophia Bassett's first birthdays yesterday; and Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne's first anniversary, which is tomorrow, but we celebrated with them tonight because they have other plans for tomorrow. Ethan, Ehlana, and I are good with not knowing the details...seriously!

Stephanie, Jake, Dillon, and some of their friends all went to Crystal Springs yesterday to meet up with Violet and celebrate her birthday with some shopping, dinner, and a movie; but we did get her birthday present to her in the morning before they left. Sophia's party was family only, but Ethan and Ehlana went to see her with Mom and they'd picked out a gift for her too. Dad and I spent most of the day on yard work; mostly so we would have more time to spend with Mom on the Mother's Day weekend.

The extra work around the house, along with my usual family business work and studying didn't leave much time to play with Rowen, but we did play after school on Thursday, and after lunch today for a while. I've got more of the same planned for next week, but that's partly because Grandma and Grandpa expect to be home by Thursday or Friday. Dad and Aunt Leanne think they'll be home earlier than usual because they miss their grandkids. I'm okay with that, because I miss them a lot too.

After going to the buffet tonight, Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne came home with us, and stayed until after Ethan and Ehlana went to bed. I've been multi-tasking since then; combining my usual nightly computing with quality time with my Jacuzzi and then cuddle time with Mandy. I've pretty much covered the highlights for the past few days, and this is my last job of the night, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Monday, May 7, 2012

Happy 1st Anniversary, Aunt Leanne and Uncle Adam!

We started out with a rainy day, and ended with warm and sunny. Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne had breakfast with us; mostly so we could give them their presents, but that was the last time I saw them today. Since they're staying home to celebrate; I'm still very happy not to know any of the details.

Rowen and I spent some time riding our bikes and playing at the park after school, and she stayed for dinner and a Magi lesson before going home at around eight-thirty. I've been studying in the archives and doing my usual email and entertainment checks since then, and now I'm going to call it an early night; skipping the language practice in favor of a bit more sleep. That's all the news for today, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, keeping it short and sweet and signing off!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

I'm currently falling asleep in the Jacuzzi, but after finally getting to have our first baseball practice of the season; I seriously needed to get cleaned up before bedtime.

Though it was an after-school work day for Rowen and me, we did stop early enough to throw a ball around for a while before dinner. Practice was fun, but it was a bit weird being the oldest players on the team – and not having Rebecca and Jenny playing with us now that they've again crossed over to the next (baseball) level. They're both happy to be on Carolyn Landry's team again – and to have Carolyn's Mom for their coach.

After baseball, I had more work to do in the office, and the only difference from the last two years is that the move to Tuesday practices means we don't follow up our baseball fun with game night at the Inn. Mom and I did a short Magi lesson after Ethan and Ehlana went to bed, and I've been up to my neck in swirling water since finishing that.

The only news to report around the family is that Grandma and Grandpa are still expecting to be home by the end of the week. Mother's Day will be way more fun with them home! Anyway, I'm totally ready to get dried off and crash until morning, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Happy Mother's Day!

Mom, Grandma, and most of the mothers in town had get out of work free cards; though Miranda and some of the other working Moms weren't able to do that. Our day started out with Tai Chi by the river; the full country breakfast and Mother's Day gifts; and then Dad and I juggled all of the work that needed to be finished before going to church. Dad, Grandpa, Aunt Leanne, and Uncle Adam put on the barbeque lunch at our house, and then we split the afternoon between a short canoe ride and a couple of hours playing at the park. There was time for a break and to get ready for the late buffet at the Inn, and that was definitely the highlight of the day for all of us – especially since we had lots of friends there too.

Since I'm playing catch-up on my journal, I should recap the top news since my last entry. Mom and Dad had their first baseball practice of the season on Wednesday, and Rowen and I took care of Ethan and Ehlana while they were busy with that. Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne were on the team again, along with Nick and Aunt Deborah. Mr. Seager is playing again this year, and though Naomi had grandparent help while her parents were busy tonight; Rowen and I might be taking care of her at practices sometimes too.

The main news from the ranks of the Grade Six students at school this week was Nora's twelfth birthday on Thursday – mostly because it was the first girl-boy party for our class. Rowen and I got her a little gift – like we do for all of our classmates – but we were also very happy to not be invited to the party. From the stories we heard on Friday, we were even happier that we weren't there to witness the craziness.

We had a dinner and a movie night on Friday, and Rowen stayed for a sleepover. Grandma and Grandpa didn't get home until late, so we didn't see them until Saturday morning. They stopped by for a short visit, but then went to do some running around while Mom, Dad, and I were busy with the yard and house work. We had them over for lunch – along with Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne – and then I went home with them to help out around their house for most of the afternoon. While we were doing that, Dad was busy working to get ready for his week in the city, and he only took a break from that while we had dinner before hiding in the office again. Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Leanne were all at our house again for the evening, and Grandpa did most of their winter getaway storytelling.

Ethan and Ehlana had a later than usual bedtime because of that last night; and they went to bed a bit later than usual tonight because Mom wanted to do a lesson with all three of us after getting home from the Inn. Dad finished up his work while we did that, and we don't need to even think about what he and Mom have been doing since tucking the twins in for the night. I've been working on my computer since coming up to my room. The email check took a while, since I had updates from all of my regular family sources to read and replies to write. All of the email included Mother's Day updates, and while I probably wasn't the only one not thinking about it much; Violet, Dawn, and most of my cousins are getting fired up about coming home to visit in les than two weeks for the Memorial Day weekend.

Those reminders had me spending a bit of time on our future project after finishing the email and entertainment checks. Ethan, Ehlana, and I have a few things to wrap up with that before we'll be ready for what Mom, Dad, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Leanne will be doing while everyone is home. Thanks to that, a bit of family business work, some language study, and this journal entry, and I've managed to work until after one o'clock again – make that nearly one-thirty! It's definitely past-time to call it a night, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

This week has been weird, with a lot of work, and a little fun mixed in. Let's start this recap with the weird.

Shopping. Yes, I know, there shouldn't be anything weird about that, but in this case, weird definitely fits. Rowen and I try our best not to talk much about it – or even think about it – but that doesn't mean we can avoid the inevitable.

Get to the point and be done with it, Proctor!

Rowen and I went to Palmers with the Moms yesterday morning to get our first training bras.

Our first introduction to the 'back room' was definitely high on the weird scale for two girls doing their very best to avoid crossing over. This was one of those times when having a photographic memory is not something I'm happy about having, and let's not even talk about some of the lingerie and underwear that Mom and Patricia were looking at while Abby was busy with Rowen and me. They didn't buy anything, but I won't be surprised if they both stop in again for a little shopping next week sometime.

I know that lots of the girls reaching this little milestone are very excited about first bras, but in my one weekend of experience; it's mostly just annoying – like having to put a swimsuit top on under my clothes. Rowen sort of agreed with me, but I think she also likes wearing her bra a lot more than I do. Abby did at least make sure that the bras she helped us to pick out were comfortable. Dad and Ethan didn't need or want any details about this little shopping and rite of passage event. Ehlana had a few questions for me, but probably saved most of them for Mom once she'd sensed that it wasn't something I wanted to really talk about. Aunt Leanne had a few comments and jokes for me, but for the first time, I didn't really find much to laugh about.

And just for the sake of curiosity; do most women enjoy all of the fun and excitement that goes along with things like menstrual cycles and the rest so much that they're thrilled to welcome new members as early as possible? Wouldn't it be much better if we could just turn that on and off for a few months now and then when we want to have kids? Maybe I'll do a bit of archive research to find out if that's possible.

That's enough of the weird, so let's move on.

Dad was in the city all week, so Mom and I were busier than usual between school, work, lessons, baseball, and taking care of the twins. It was nice to have grandparent support again, and Mom had one evening, a morning, and an afternoon off to do other things while Ethan and Ehlana were busy keeping Grandma and Grandpa entertained.

Rowen and I had baseball practice on Tuesday; we took care of Ethan, Ehlana, and Naomi on Wednesday while Mom was at her practice; and Rowen stayed for a sleepover after our dinner and a movie night on Friday. After the Saturday morning shopping trip, Rowen went to work at the computer store while I joined the yard work crew with Dad, and we spent the rest of the day getting everything ready for the holiday weekend while Mom and Alicia took care of Ethan and Ehlana, and worked on getting guest bedrooms cleaned and ready too.

Last night, after working until nearly seven o'clock before stopping for a late dinner, all I was interested in was a long soak in my Jacuzzi and an early bedtime. Today was mostly a play day – at least for the kids. (I'm just going to ignore my first Sunday church service that included wearing a bra under my dress. Some of the looks and smiles that were directed at Rowen and I definitely had me suspicious about whether that Palmers back room rule to not talk about what was bought there applied to girls getting their first bras.) Rowen and I played with Ethan and Ehlana most of the afternoon. We took them on a canoe ride; had ice cream from the Emporium; and spent an hour and a half at the park before taking them home for a little nap before dinner. Mom and Dad both worked in the office while we did that, and Dad spent most of the evening in there too. Mom and I took care of making dinner and cleaning up while he was busy; and then we took the twins for a walk; stopping for front porch visits with Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne, and Grandma and Grandpa. We did a Magi lesson and a bit of archive studying after that, followed by bath time before doing the bedtime story and snack in the office with Dad.

I've mostly been working on my computer since coming up to my room after we tucked Ethan and Ehlana in for the night. There were some email to catch up on; a bit of family business work to do; my language lessons; and an hour of archive studying before getting around to this journal entry. It's after one now, and time to call it a night. Five sleeps to go until the best Memorial Day weekend ever so far! By the end of the weekend, word will be out about one big part of our family business plans for Witch Falls – if not even a fraction of the details. We do still have five school and work days to get through between now and then, though, and I'm really tired, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Rowen and I are officially members of the Real Estate Rovers. Aunt Leanne was very excited about springing that news flash on us when the team announcements were made yesterday. Mom and Dad's team is Ayres' Arrows, and the jokes are already flying – like the one about them getting the short end of the stick – because the other teams in the coed division are the Lasers and Torpedoes.

Play time, except for baseball practices and game night, has been suspended for the week. I've been helping Mom after school, and we'll be doing more of the same on Wednesday and Thursday; though I'm mostly taking care of Ethan and Ehlana while Mom is busy cooking up most of what we'll need to feed the masses this weekend. Aunt Leanne and Uncle Adam came over after work on Monday to have dinner with us, and stayed for the ongoing cooking session until they wrapped that up in time for Ethan and Ehlana's bedtime snack and story.

Ethan, Ehlana, and I have spent some of our time tweaking our future plans; and we went over everything that will be happening this weekend one last time while having dinner on Monday too. I've been staying up late working on my computer after the twins were in bed; getting ahead on my family business work and studying my languages and the archives. I'm sure that Mom has noted this too, but I'll mention that while the twins have mostly been going to bed at the normal time; they've also been caught several times still awake and having inter-room, iPad FaceTime chats. Since they are less than a month away from finishing Grade Eight, which they're shooting for having done by their first birthday, we probably shouldn't be surprised; but we still are. Yes, I'm still just a little bit jealous that they can play on their iPads and do things that I couldn't when I was their age; but it's also a lot of fun to see what they can do too.

Anyway, that's about all for today. It's already after one-thirty, and I'm ready to get some sleep now, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Friday, May 25, 2012

Have I mentioned that I really love holiday weekends?

It's funny to think about it now, but holiday weekends weren't that big of a deal to me before Mom and I moved to Witch Falls. I'm sure that it's having our family and friends that makes the difference, and we have a house full of family right now; including the three cousins I'm sharing my room and the lounge with tonight after Jaimie and Kaitlyn fell asleep on the sectional sofa while they were watching a movie with Dawn and me.

The girls are ruling the third floor this weekend. Dawn's with me in my room, and Violet, Jaimie, and Kaitlyn have the three guest bedrooms while Aunt Grace and all of our parents are all on the second floor. Chris and Martin are staying with Aunt Leanne and Uncle Adam; mostly so they can hang out with Jonathan. Grandma and Grandpa's house is grandparent central for our family, and Christine and Andrew are doing the same for the Johnson-McEwan clan; though technically, only two out of four couples are actually grandparents.

I'm going to keep this short tonight. Dawn and Mandy are both sleeping now too, and Violet and I are the last two standing – though she's not actually here right now, and probably isn't standing either wherever she and Dillon are right now with Jake and Stephanie. Aunt Grace and Uncle Blaine both took off work early, and made it into town by dinnertime with Alison, Duncan, Mercy, and the kids. I've been running pretty much non-stop since then keeping up with Jaimie and Kaitlyn with some support from Dawn once she got here with the rest of the Rice clan.

We've played at the park, gone canoeing, and visited in the back yard with everyone before getting around to our movie time in the lounge. Ethan, Ehlana, and Jayden were with us for the movie and while we were at the park. We had parental support, but even I'm running out of steam now after running around with my two little shadows all night. Mom assures me that I was busier than both of my cousins combined when I was in that three to five-year old range. I'd argue the point if my photographic memory didn't corroborate that claim. Anyway, the weekend fun is just getting started, and I need to get at least a little sleep now, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Uncle Blaine still has a lot of reading to do before he gets started on the work; but the news of the day is that we have our architect for the lab and medical center projects. I missed out on the conversation that Mom, Dad, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Leanne had with him about the job offer, but I'm sure they all had a lot of fun with it.

They were able to have that little chat this morning when we were all mostly inside while a little rain swept through town; but it wasn't long before the sun was out again, and we could get on with our outdoor fun plans. We only had our guests for lunch, and then most of us went over to Aunt Leanne and Uncle Adam's house; where everyone who was going out to the Ridge River Ranch was gathering before heading out there. Mom and Dad skipped the trail ride so they could stay with Ethan and Ehlana; and work on their part of the all-families barbeque that we were hosting.

Dawn, Rowen, and I had a blast on the trail ride, and got to spend most of that time with Violet while our younger cousins were doing another corral adventure with one-to-one adult support. We had ice cream snacks waiting for us when we got home, and then Dawn, Rowen, Violet, and I went for a canoe ride with Jaimie and Kaitlyn while most of the grown-ups were either helping to get ready for dinner, or taking care of the younger kids.

The whole day has mostly been fun and games for all of the kids, though Dawn and I were recruited for the after-dinner cleanup crew along with all of the teens. Chris, Martin, and Jonathan weren't thrilled about that, but it really didn't take long, and then we were free to go play again until dusk; when we gathered in the back yard again for the campfire. I love campfire music and scary stories, but the best part of the night was getting to listen to Uncle Adam and Uncle Blaine talk about the lab and med center. Uncle Blaine didn't know that they were doing that specifically so Dillon and Violet could hear them talk about it, but I did; and Dillon was definitely paying very close attention to what they were saying. That was just a first little step toward his part in our future plans, and I'm sure that he liked what he heard as much as we'd hoped that he would.

With that out of the way, let's discuss the weirdness of the night – Rebecca and Jenny hanging around with Chris, Martin, Jonathan, and a few of their friends. I may have come to grips with the fact that two of my best friends have crossed over, and are lost to me for a while, but having them look at my cousins the way they were tonight is scarier than any story Grandpa or Uncle Duncan told us. Chris isn't as interested in them as he was last summer – probably because he's got nearly a year of high school behind him since then – but Martin and Jonathan were both very happy with the attention.

By eleven o'clock, there were quite a few cuddling couples around the fire, and while I wasn't really all that tired yet, the twins, Jayden, Jaimie, and Kaitlyn were all sleeping. Dawn looked ready to drop too, so we decided to help get our younger cousins off to sleep, and then came up to my room to get ready for bed too. I've been sitting in the alcove since Dawn and Mandy fell asleep; watching the campfire and working on my computer. I had a few notes to make in our Magi project journal that was mostly about things that I picked up around town from weekend visitors. Rebecca and Jenny had re-ignited my interest in archive records that might help Rowen and I avoid their fate, but unfortunately, I haven't found anything so far that would help. I'm not sure if that's because so many of the archives are written by guys, or whether there just isn't a way to either be immunized or cured.

As I'm writing this, the campfire is starting to break up; though it looks like some of the teens are going to stay up a bit longer. With the usual holiday weekend Sunday morning rush only about five hours away from starting, though, it's time for me to wrap this up; so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Sunday, May 27, 2012

I'm officially tired out tonight; so let's keep this short.

It was non-stop action from Tai Chi to the post-dinner cleanup. Dawn and I helped with getting Jaimie and Kaitlyn ready for church, fed, and entertained; and managed to take turns with showers and getting dressed up too. The church service and Sunday school were fun, and then we just had our guests plus the grandparents for lunch before the girls headed over to Witch Falls Road for a few hours of shopping. The usual Sunday night buffet at the Inn followed that for the visiting members of our family while everyone else came over to our house for another barbeque.

We had a 'free' night after that; which included a canoe ride, park play, and Jacuzzi time for Dawn and me. She used the Jacuzzi first, and is already asleep. I've been doing a quick version of the usual nightly computing – without the studying or work – since getting out of the bathroom; but with everyone in the family here, that didn't take long. Somehow, I've still managed to keep busy until after eleven, and as I look out the window toward the river, I'm wishing that I'd gone straight to bed. That way I wouldn't have seen the group of canoes pull up to the dock with Chris, Martin, Jonathan, and the rest of the gang they've been hanging out with off and on all weekend conveniently riding in them in guy-girl pairs. Jenny has a lot of canoeing experience, and isn't at all uncoordinated, so that strongly suggests to me that the little trip into my cousin's arms wasn't an accident. It also seems like the perfect time for me and my photographic memory to wrap this up and go to bed – so I will!

Live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Monday, May 28, 2012

Memorial Day is amazing in Witch Falls!

This year was even better than the first two that Mom and I have been here for; mostly thanks to Ethan and Ehlana. I suppose you could say that they were here last year too, but this was a lot different, and they have a unique way of seeing things that is a lot of fun to experience with them.

The only real changes in the parade are the people participating – new bands, guides, or scouts members. The service at the cemetery was solemn and moving; and the best part, for me, was the family stories that Grandpa, Uncle Duncan, and Aunt Carrie told us while leading us around the cemetery grounds. Dawn and I had four little girls with us for most of the morning, and after getting home again, while the parents got everything packed up for the picnic in the park; we entertained Jaimie, Kaitlyn, Kara, and Nicole in the back yard.

While we were technically relieved of that duty once everyone moved over to the park, Dawn, Rowen, and I still had our little shadows for a lot of the afternoon. That didn't keep us from having fun, and except for breaks for lunch, the National Moment of Silence, and an afternoon ice cream break; we were playing and constantly on the go. We went canoeing; played most of the charity games; and ran around with the younger girls at the playground until it was time to pack up and head for home.

There was more packing to do once we got there; and I helped Jaimie and Kaitlyn do that while Dawn and Violet were getting ready to go too. Dillon was 'helping' Violet, and that's probably why they were the last two people to make it outside again with her luggage and computer bag. By then, the goodbyes needed to be hurried along, so it only took about fifteen minutes before Mom, Dad, Ethan, Ehlana, and I were on our own again. Dad needed to get started on his homework in the office, but Mom and I took the twins over to Aunt Leanne and Uncle Adam's house to help with a few last goodbyes there before going home again. Mom and I had some cleaning to do after that, and Ethan and Ehlana supervised while we cleaned the kitchen and started running loads of laundry.

There isn't much else to report for today. It's been all work since then, and once I'm finished with this journal entry; I'm going to try for a half-decent night of sleep before getting back to school in the morning.

Live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Here we are at the end of another month, and this year, it works out that we only have two weeks left in the school year. Just two weeks and a day to go before summer holidays!

The highlights for the last few days were the Tuesday and Wednesday night baseball practices; game night tonight; and a little Magi Council update meeting at our house on Tuesday night that Ethan, Ehlana, and I got to sit in on to discuss the latest on our future plans – and go over a few of the things that need to happen next. While she's not a council member, Mom is now invited to most council meetings; but this get-together was specifically to talk about the lab, med center, and a few other projects that will be coming up soon – like the new section of town that will be needed for the growing population we'll have here over the next twenty or thirty years.

Most of the kids and teens in town are gearing up for year-end tests and final exams next week; and this week has mostly been review in our classes. Rowen and I are playing along with that when we need to, but aren't worried about the Grade Six tests at all. Once we're through next week, the last week of school will be all fun and games. The best parts of June are going to be when Violet comes to spend the summer with us starting on her birthday; Ethan and Ehlana's first birthday; and baseball games – which start this weekend for Mom and Dad's team, and a week from Saturday for mine.

The only other news I have to report tonight is actually from the holiday weekend, but I didn't hear much about while busy with my cousins. Grace and Mark haven't actually been able to get together much this year so far, but they have been talking and emailing each other just about every day; and the good news is that they're both coming to Witch Falls for the week leading up to the Labor Day holiday. I'd say that's perfect timing for the next phase of our future plans as it applies to them!

That's all for today, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

June 2012

Friday, June 1, 2012

Tonight's journal entry is partly to welcome in the first day of June (though it's currently now the second as of an hour or so ago); and partly to report another first for our Grade Six class.

The first is a guy-girl birthday party being thrown for one of the guys. Rowen and I were again happy to be excluded from the guest list, but we are quickly running out of classmates that haven't crossed over now; or are at least pretending that they have. Despite the mounting odds against us, though, we are still determined to stay where we are on the sane side of that line!

There isn't much else going on around town. June hasn't exactly started out summer-like, but warmer weather is supposed to be back again by tomorrow – just in time for a yard work day. While the majority of our classmates were at Allen's party, Rowen and I did a bit of after-school studying for our tests next week, then mostly played for the rest of the night – except for a dinner break at my house – until we split up and went home at around nine.

I was home in time for Ethan and Ehlana's bedtime snack and story time, and followed that up with some Jacuzzi action before cuddling in bed with Mandy and getting some work done on my computer. As I mentioned, we do have a yard work day coming up, and it's closer to one-thirty than one now, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off and getting some sleep!

Saturday, June 2, 2012

For a yard work day, we managed to have quite a bit of fun.

Tai Chi by the river always makes for a good start, and pancakes and bacon for breakfast was a nice bonus. While I waited for the grass to dry enough for cutting this morning, I worked on the porches, sidewalks, driveway, and paths; sweeping, raking, and cleaning as needed. I had the grass cut by lunchtime, and then Dad and I spent a couple of hours after lunch washing the van and truck; doing a bit of work on the dock; and minor repairs to one canoe and three bikes. Rowen and I had some play time at the park after that, and we ended up having dinner at her house before going back to the park again for our babysitting and cheerleading jobs.

We had Ethan, Ehlana, and Naomi with us for Ayres' Arrows first game of the season, and while we did have the cute baby and toddler market wrapped up; Carolyn Landry had brought her own cheerleading squad along to support her parents, aunt, uncle, and the entire Landry's Lasers team. That gave Landry's the cooler team name; a group of thirteen and fourteen year-old cheerleaders; more fans that included a not-so-surprising contingent of twelve to fifteen-year old boys; and they had some pretty good players too.

Rowen and I were a bit disappointed when Rebecca and Jenny joined Carolyn's cheerleaders after getting done at the Inn, but they were all on the same ball team again this year too, and spent more time with the older girls than they did with us anyway. Michael had come to the park with them, and ended up hanging out with Tim Landry and the other guys on that side of the diamond. I won't comment on whether they were there to support Tim's parents or to watch the girls; but they were both at Allen's party, and may have crossed over since the last time we saw them at school yesterday.

Though we did our best to cheer our team on, Landry's Lasers kept a lead from the second inning on; and won the game fourteen to nine without needing to play the bottom of the seventh inning. Mom and Dad were going out to Sheldon's Pub after the game, and Ethan, Ehlana, and I had Alicia babysitting us while they were out. She met up with us while we were still at the park, and after getting home; she and I took care of Ethan and Ehlana's bath time while Mom and Dad were getting changed and ready to go out. The twins were ready for bedtime snacks and stories by the time Aunt Leanne and Uncle Adam stopped by to collect Mom and Dad, so there was a lengthy round of goodnight hugs and kisses before Alicia and I did that with Ethan and Ehlana. We put them to bed after that, and then watched a movie in the living room before I came up to my room and got ready for bed too.

It's after midnight, and Alicia will likely be back up here to check in on me soon; so I've kept the computing work to a minimum. Rowen and I are doing a study afternoon with some of the other kids in class, and I should get some sleep anyway, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Rowen and I do like studying on our own when we can, mostly so we don't have to play at normal sixth-grader; we had fun this afternoon studying with some of our classmates too.

Gretchen and Sally both stayed with us after church; and we had Lily and Karla come over to my house after lunch. Since Gretchen and Sally lived on farms, Rowen and I didn't get to hang out with them much outside of school or church, so it was nice to spend the afternoon with them – even if we were studying for our tests. We didn't hang out much with Lily or Karla because they were usually with the other crossed-over girls and in too-close proximity to the guys they all liked to keep a close watch over; but they were looking for some study help from the best students in our class, and willing to take a few hours off from their usual boy-watching to do that with us.

The lounge was study central, and we worked for nearly four hours; with Rowen and I splitting our time and subject with our friends to cover more ground. Talking about summer vacation was fun – except for when Lily and Karla wanted to talk about that in relation to boys and potential boyfriends. Rowen usually just stays quiet during those boy-chats, and I should probably follow her lead on that, since the peer pressure has definitely turned against those of us who haven't gotten with this part of the growing up program; and my opinions on pre-teen boys does not help my popularity with girls like Lily and Karla.

Anyway, we did have a good afternoon, and after wrapping up our study session and going with Dad to take Gretchen and Sally home, Rowen and I had a bit of time to play until dinnertime, and we took Ethan and Ehlana with us up to the lounge, since we'd been getting rain off and on all day and it was too wet to play at the park. They were happy to just have the two of us there so they didn't have to play normal baby like they'd mostly been doing since going to church this morning. We listened to music; they played on their iPads; and we had a nice, long, telepathic chat until Rowen needed to head home.

It's been a quiet night since then, and other than helping out with the dinner cleanup, I've mostly just been playing with Mom and the twins. We did a Magi lesson together; Ethan and Ehlana did the full bath and bedtime routine; and after putting them to bed, Mom and I spent some time in our Jacuzzis too. I've been on the computer since climbing into bed with Mandy, but it's time to pack up and call it a night. There are likely lots of teens in town still up studying for their first exams in the morning, but I'm actually skipping some work so I can get a solid eight hours or so tonight, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Monday, June 4, 2012

We've had a beautiful, hot, sunny day that's mostly been wasted while we were at school; and then studying for our next tests. Rowen and I did take our computers over to the park so we could at least be outside. Some of our classmates had the same idea, so we studied together, and had fun doing that; but we'd have all rather been playing, canoeing, biking, or nearly anything else except work or chores.

Mom had a healing lesson for Uncle Adam and me after dinner, and then we had a little impromptu meeting in the office to talk about family business issues; the Magi project; and the latest with our future plans. With Violet coming to spend the summer with us in two weeks, and now that she and Dillon have just one year left before college, one of the next priorities that will mostly be up to Uncle Adam and Mom is to nudge both of them into getting the education they'll need for the jobs we see them doing. There were some issues to discuss with the timing for the start of the infrastructure projects we'll need to start later this year to be ready to build the housing we'll need; and we also made a few decisions on approaching a few people about jobs that are either for one of the construction projects or the family business.

I came up to my room after that wrapped up and we put Ethan and Ehlana to bed, but have been working on my computer since getting changed and snuggling with Mandy. There were some test and exam related email updates waiting for me from Dawn and Violet; a funny note from Mark; and a 'mind my own business' request from Grace that I have every intention of ignoring. This is one instance where the kid actually does know best!

My language studying is coming right along, and I still plan on mostly taking the summer off from that. I spent an hour working in the archives, and once I get this journal entry done, I'm going to get some sleep. Nine more school days – eight and a half if you count the nearly half-day off a week from Friday, and seven and a half if you don't count the play day next Thursday. There are still eleven sleeps until summer holidays, and I'm ready to get one of them started right now, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Family business and computer store work was mostly suspended today so that Rowen and I could study with some of our classmates after school today; though I did get some work done tonight after coming up to bed.

One thing that I should note, and which I spent some time writing about tonight in our Magi project journal, is my observations over the past two days of the Magi, latent, and non-Magi students – particularly among the teens. This is the first round of final exams and tests I've gone through since being able to tell the difference between the three groups, and knowing who all of the Magi kids and teens are; so it's been way more interesting to watch that than my sixth-grade tests have been.

Without being able to talk with any of the other kids and teens about it, I can't be sure about whether there are other factors affecting them, but when looked at in groups, there are definite, observable differences with how the students are acting and working this week. I think I'll ask Mr. Palmer if I can get the test results – or better yet, copies of all of the completed tests – to use for our Magi project. I already know that not all Magi kids are top students in their respective classes, though you'd think that we all should be considering our advantages; and I'd love to find out why. There are so many factors to consider that getting to the bottom of that answer could prove to be a real challenge.

Depending on who is reading this, that may sound very boring, so for your benefit, I'll direct those who are interested in the subject over to the Magi Project archive; though I should warn you that Uncle Adam has recently been writing about Magi puberty for both boys and girls, so be afraid – very afraid! (Yes, I am and will continue to be part of that study; which is weird, but I'll keep telling myself that Ehlana – and any future Magi Master girls – will appreciate. That thought keeps me from running and hiding every time Uncle Adam wants to question me, or when he and Mom use me as the guinea pig during our Magi Healing lessons.

That seems like a very good point to stop at and move on.

Our Real Estate Rovers practice was fun tonight, and Rowen and I both think that we're ready for the game on Saturday. Writing about baseball after commenting on Magi education and physiology seems funny to me; but from an eleven-year old Magi Master's perspective, the baseball is just as – or more – important. That does give me a good idea for another section in our Magi Project archive – a sports and games section! We should definitely study how well the Magi play with the other kids. None of us can use our full abilities in any games or sports, but there's still a big difference between, for instance, how Mom and Dad play games compared to Aunt Leanne and me. I know that we can't do it, but you have to admit that Magi-powered baseball games would be seriously cool to play and watch!

I was fairly dusty after practice, so my bath time came before Ethan and Ehlana's. We did do story and snack time together with Mom and Dad, and then we all went to bed early. That's why I'm already doing this, and it's barely past midnight. The family business work that I needed to get done is out of the way; I've done two half-hour chats in two different languages; and read two novels in those same two languages. The email updates were light, and the entertainment and news check didn't take long either. That's all the news I have for tonight, and I'm ready to get some rest now, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Wednesday night baseball and babysitting is going to be one of my favorite parts of the week this summer.

Rowen and I got to have Ethan, Ehlana, and Naomi again this week, and we split our time between hanging out and watching the practice and some swing and slide action at the playground. The twins wish that they could run around with Naomi as much as they actually can when not acting their age in public, but we do manage to have a lot of fun anyway; and my two junior cheerleaders are definitely a big hit with the few other spectators that come out to watch the practices – and with the team players and parents.

I've stayed up working on my computer a bit too late tonight, so I'm going to keep this short. While Mom and Dad's baseball practice was the highlight today, Rowen and I had fun at school too; though most of the other kids would think we were nuts to find year-end test days fun. The extra work tonight was mostly doing a big wrap up on a back-to-school project for several of the retail investments I manage, and yes, that is really weird to be doing and thinking about right now when we haven't even gotten started on summer holidays yet.

Two more days of tests and one after-school study session to go, and then we'll be done the work part of this school year. Right now, though, it's time to get a few hours of sleep, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, tested, studied, and gamed night at the Inn out, signing in and out; and getting some sleep!

Friday, June 8, 2012

Year-end testing and exams are done; and the teens in particular are very happy about that. Rowen and I were happy too, and celebrating with a sleepover at her house.

After school, Rowen and I started out with stops at the computer store and my house; I packed a bag and we dropped it off at her house; and then we headed out on our bikes for some playtime at the park that included a short swim in the river and an ice cream stop at the Emporium when we needed to cool off. Dinner ended up being a picnic for two back at the park, and then we spent most of the evening there, playing and watching most of a baseball game, until we needed to meet up with Rowen's parents at the store and walk home with them.

That was when we found out that Patrick had invited Scott Faulkner for a sleepover too – probably about ten seconds after finding out that Rowen had invited me. I'm sure that you know what that meant for us – regular interruptions by two junior pranksters. What is it about boys getting together in pairs or groups that turn them into such annoying pests? Yes, I know that the majority of them grow out of it by the time they're thirty or forty, but unfortunately for girls; scaring them off with threats of hugs, kisses, and girl germs doesn't work anywhere near that long. In Patrick's and Scott's cases, it's entirely possible that they're going to cross over before Rowen and I do despite being two to two-and-a-half years younger. (Before you ask, Aunt Leanne, no, I'm not interested in younger, older, or any boys; so don't bother going there!)

Despite having a pair of annoying nine-year old boys bugging us way beyond any reasonable point of being entertaining, cute, fun, or funny; Rowen and I have managed to have fun. We watched a movie with Owen and Patricia; played on our computers after getting changed and in bed; and had a nice, long girl chat between chasing off the prank attacks from the boys. (For the record, Rowen and I still don't think that Grandma Emerson and Mom are right about denying our request to be allowed to use our Magi power to put the two boys to sleep so they can't bug us so much.)

Anyway, it's heading toward one o'clock, and we've got our first ball game in the morning, so it's past-time for us to get some sleep.

Live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor and Rowen Emerson, signing off!

Saturday, June 9, 2012

The Real Estate Rovers Rock!

Before I get to the game highlights, I was on my own this morning for Tai Chi in Rowen's back yard, and then we had a cereal and juice breakfast before Rowen and I needed to get ready for our game; her parents got ready for work; and Patrick and Scott mostly just got in our way until being set free to check in with his parents before heading out to play. Thankfully, our game was in the public domain, so they couldn't risk losing cool points with their buddies by watching our game; and heckling us around Mom, Dad, and Aunt Leanne would not be an option.

We played the Witch Falls Wayfarers, and they were the home team. That wasn't an advantage for them today. We scored two runs in the top of the first, and never gave up the lead after that. Rowen and I each had three hits, with one of mine being a double. Between the two of us, we had four RBI's and scored four runs. (My RBI's included Rowen's runs scored; since she was lead-off, and I batted fourth today.) We won the game eight to two, and it could have been a lot more lopsided if we hadn't left one or two runners on base every inning. Aunt Leanne had Ehlana helping out with the cheerleading, and I think she's working even harder now that she's also cheering for the team she sponsors.

Aunt Leanne, Mom, and the twins all came with us for ice cream at the Emporium after the game, and after that, play time was over for me for a few hours while I helped Dad with the yard work. This week, I had the usual lawn cutting job plus weeding the gardens. That took until nearly three, and then I met up with Rowen again. We went for a canoe ride toward the falls; docked once for a side-trip to the Emporium for ice cream; made a second stop at the park to play with some of our friends and go for a swim; and made it home in time for a back yard barbeque dinner.

Rowen went home after that, and I've mostly been in my room since then; starting with a long soak in my Jacuzzi and ending with a snuggle and chat time with Mandy while I've been working on my computer. With one week left before summer holidays, I wanted to get some extra work done, but it's been a long, busy day, and after staying up late with Rowen last night; I'm going to wrap this up and catch an extra couple of hours of down-time.

Live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Sunday, June 10, 2012

This has been another one of those really great days!

We had a beautiful morning for Tai Chi by the river; followed that up with breakfast and church; and then Rowen and I were surprised with an after-lunch trail ride with Mom, Dad, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Leanne while Grandma and Grandpa took care of Ethan and Ehlana. Rowen and I had some time to play after that, and managed to fit in some canoeing, swimming, and playground action before we needed to be at Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne's for a barbeque dinner that Grandma, Grandpa, and Rowen's parents and brother all came over for too.

With just a week left before summer holidays, I wanted to work on my computer after getting home, and have been doing that since Ethan and Ehlana went to bed – including while I was getting cleaned up in the Jacuzzi. There were email to catch up on; I worked on the family business for an hour and a half; spent another hour or so in the archives; and studied languages for nearly two hours before getting to this journal entry.

It's heading toward two o'clock now, and though we won't be doing much actual work at school now, I'm ready to get started on one of these last five sleeps before the summer break.

Live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Monday, June 11, 2012

It's time for another short entry.

School was fun; Rowen and I played until dinnertime; and then I've either been doing Magi lessons, work, or studying since then. Other than the Magi Healing lesson with Mom and Uncle Adam, tonight's work was just a longer copy of last night. I'm keeping this short because it's closer to three o'clock than two, and it is definitely time to call it a night, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Thursday, June 14, 2012

This has been a seriously awesome day!

Before I get to that, though, I should mention that the last two days were hot, mostly sunny, and except for baseball practices; almost all work and nothing newsworthy to report. By the time I went to bed at around two-thirty this morning; I was ready to forget about work and studies for a while and have some fun.

The big play day at school was definitely fun. After being pregnancy-exempted from the volunteer pool last year, Mom was back helping out again this year for a half-day while Ethan and Ehlana entertained Grandma and Grandpa for the morning. Instead of working a booth like she did two years ago, Mom was assigned to one of the game stations – a relay race that she needed to change the difficulty for depending on the age of the students competing. My class didn't rotate to her station until later in the afternoon, but Rowen and I did stop in for a visit when it was our turn for our morning snack station break.

Summer is definitely here, and we had another beautiful, very hot day. That meant lots of water, suntan lotion, and regular breaks for frozen treats. Someone reading this in the future might think that a Magi Master using suntan lotion is silly, since I could just heal myself of any sunburn; but miraculous healing from something so visible just isn't an option for Magi in twenty-twelve.

With only twenty or so students in each grade, we don't really have a serious competition; though most of the games are contests of some kind. I'm sure that our teachers sometimes need to be a bit creative about it, but by the end of the day; every student had won at least one ribbon or prize – something that was a very big deal with the younger kids. Though Rowen and I are at the younger end of our class, we did better than most of the other girls today – in the games, that is. Half of the girls were more interested in boy-watching; trying to impress boys; or distracting them so they'd goof up in the games. The third part of that was fun for everyone except the guys caught up in their games.

By the time we were set free for the day, Rowen and I were ready to cool down; starting with a swim in the river even before we did snack time with Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana. We ended up with a twin each when Mom brought them out – already changed into swimming diapers – and we floated around with them for nearly fifteen minutes before getting out; drying off a bit; and then sitting out on the back porch to do the daily update while eating ice cream cones.

Rowen and I went to play at the park after that; split up for dinner; and then she came back over to our house in time to go to the Inn. This was the last game night of the school year; mostly because Miranda had decided that we shouldn't try having one next week when we had the big shopping trip scheduled for Friday. Miranda and Jacob didn't even come close to winning the summer-long bragging rights for game night Champions; though they did have some consolation when Jake and Stephanie did win the Junior Championship. They weren't the only disappointed team tonight, but first-time this season winners Heather and Adam Green were quite happy – especially since they were also enjoying a few rare hours of baby-free time thanks to some Grandma and Grandpa babysitting services.

I'm in bed and doing this early tonight. Working was an option – especially since we don't even have a full school day tomorrow, but Rowen and I have camping plans for tomorrow night, and getting some extra sleep tonight is probably a good plan, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Friday, June 15, 2012

School's out for the summer!

The good news is that Rowen and I – and our classmates – are finished Grade Six. The scary news is that Ethan and Ehlana unofficially finished Grade Eight. That puts them a bit ahead of where I was at one-year old, but then they have iPads to help them. No, I'm not going there tonight; and I really do think they're amazing.

It was mostly party time all day at school, and nearly everyone except for a few graduating seniors were just having fun and waiting out those last few hours until we were set free for the summer. Rowen and I went straight home and started working on setting up the tent and campsite for our first camping adventure. Ethan and Ehlana came outside to play and supervise for a while, and then we took them for another short swim when we were all ready to cool off. We were having a gang over for a barbeque dinner tonight, so Mom recruited Rowen and I to help out when it was time to get everything set up for that and put together the side dishes. The Arrows had their second game of the season tonight, so that did mean dinner was fairly easy and on-the-fly. Paper and plastic dinnerware helped keep the cleanup to a minimum too, and then Rowen and I took Ethan and Ehlana to the park so we could hang out at the playground until the Arrows-Torpedoes game started.

This was the first game of the season for Taylor's Torpedoes, so the Arrows had that slight advantage; plus they didn't want to start their season with two losses, and definitely had the edge with their cheerleading squad. Rowen and I had Ehlana and Naomi helping us, and they did a particularly good job with the hugs, kisses, and giggles that entertained and charmed our parents, the other players, and all of the spectators. The game was good too, and was really close; with our Arrows managing to pull out a narrow eight-to-six win in the bottom of the seventh.

After that, it was campfire time. Mom and Dad ended up with about half of their team coming over to our house for that, and the usual group of neighbors started dropping by once the fire and music had started. Rowen's parents, Patrick, and Scott were first and, as usual, the Stones were last after getting home from the Inn – though this time they didn't have Rebecca and Jenny with them since they were doing a sleepover at Jenny's house with some other girls.

The music, scary stories, and quiet chat-time around the fire lasted until a bit after midnight, and then Rowen and I went up to my room to get ready for bed before doing a round of goodnight hugs and kisses and heading out to our tent by the river. We've mostly been sitting or lying down and talking since then while I've also been doing my usual bedtime computing. We aren't the only riverside campers; though we are a lot quieter than the two boys out in the Stone's back yard. Being able to listen in on what was going on a few yards down added some entertainment and a bit of weirdness. Let's just say that Rowen and I heard enough to strongly suggest that two more of our classmates have crossed over.

**If you're reading this some day; - and you know who 'you' are – make a note to yourself that sound travels very well over water. :^) **

Moving on, this has been another great day, but I have a yard work morning coming up soon, and Rowen's working at the store, so it's time for us to get some sleep.

Live from summer vacation central in Witch Falls; this is Cassie and Rowen, signing off!

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Happy Father's Day, Daddy and Grandpa!

Violet's coming home for the summer tomorrow, so I'll try to keep the weekend update short and be sleeping before midnight after a couple of late nights.

Saturday morning: Tai Chi; breakfast; yard work.

Saturday afternoon: Surprise trip to Quarry Lake!!!

Saturday night: Camping by the river adventure number two – no neighbor boys' camp tonight. (Bonus!)

Sunday morning: Tai Chi; Father's Day gifts and breakfast for Dad; church.

Sunday afternoon: Barbeque lunch at Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne's house, including more gifts for Dad and Grandpa; afternoon play time on/in river, at the park, or in Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne's yard. (Dad needed to work in the office for a couple of hours to get ready for his week in the city)

Sunday evening: Late Buffet at the Inn; Magi lesson night at home; full bedtime and bath routine for Ethan and Ehlana; and I'm doing this after enjoying a bit of Jacuzzi time once the twins were tucked in for the night.

I don't think that our first weekend of summer vacation could have been any better, but I'm seriously ready for some down time, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Monday, June 18, 2012

Happy 17th Birthday, Violet, and welcome back to your home away from home!

Before Violet got home by mid-afternoon, we'd already been up early to see Dad off for his week in the city; Mom and I had exercised by the river; done a quick breakfast; and then I was set free to spend the morning playing with Rowen. Mom had Alicia starting her Monday to Friday summer job, and I'm sure she was very happy to have the extra help around the house and with taking care of Ethan and Ehlana.

It definitely felt more like summer vacation had really started now that we weren't in school on a weekday. Rowen and I spent our first morning of freedom biking, playing at the park, and swimming in the river. Lunch was at my house, and we took Ethan and Ehlana with us to eat our sandwiches and salads down by the river. We went for a little canoe ride after that, followed by a cool-off swim, and then we had just enough time to dry off before Violet pulled her car into the driveway.

While we'd been playing, she'd done a birthday breakfast at home that included a few of her friends, and then she drove to Crystal Springs in time to have lunch with Dad before making the rest of the trip to Witch Falls. Dillon, Jake, and Stephanie were all at our house by then, but even with the extra competition, I still managed to be second in line for hugs with her – conceding first place in line to Dillon; since they hadn't seen each other since Memorial Day.

I was put to work after that, and Rowen stayed to help me as we first were assigned porter duties for luggage deliveries to the third floor, and then helped Mom with the birthday dinner barbeque that we were semi-hosting; though it was mostly for Dillon, Violet, Jake, Stephanie, and some of their friends. The bonus for us was that we got to help out with the eating part of the party; and Jake and his Dad were grilling the entrees while Mom, Grandma, Aunt Leanne, Aunt Deborah, Mrs. Jacobs, and Stephanie had all been recruited for side dishes and desserts.

My party involvement – along with the grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles – ended with the dinner cleanup. Rowen and I were off and playing again once the work was done, and we biked and played at the park until dark while the teens ruled my backyard. There was a campfire lit by the time I got home after going with Rowen to her house and visiting with her Mom and Dad for a while; but other than taking Ethan and Ehlana out back for a round of goodnight hugs and kisses, I stayed inside for the rest of the night. Mom and I put Ethan and Ehlana to bed by ten, and I've been in my room since then. After a long play day, I was definitely in need of some Jacuzzi time. Since then, though, I've mostly been working on my computer while sitting in the window alcove and watching some of the campfire action.

Rowen and I have most of this week off from work, though she'll be working at the store again starting this Saturday morning. I don't think that Mom and Violet have worked out their work and lessons plans yet, though while I'm thinking about that, I should add in an Isabelle and Andrew update. We would have loved to have Isabelle work with us again this summer, but she didn't want to put Alicia out of a job, so she's helping out at KidZone – the daycare that Sharon White and Colleen Sparks started up last fall. Thanks to the extra summer help, the little daycare will be doing a summer program for the younger school-age kids. Andrew's doing some freelance computer work that just happened to come from one of the companies in our family business; though Andrew doesn't know that. They were both honors students for their freshman year, and though I don't see either of them much except at church or around town; Isabelle is a regular on my email network.

Anyway, it's getting late, and it looks like I'll have to wait until at least tomorrow to get to spend much time with Violet; so I'm going to call it a night and go to bed.

Live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

P.S. Violet didn't get any cars for her birthday this year, but she did love the gifts that Mom, Dad, Ethan, Ehlana, and I got for her; along with the rest of the presents she was given here and back home. I didn't really think about how close her birthday is to Ethan and Ehlana's, but I'll bet that with four sleeps left until their big day that they sure are now! (And no, they're not getting cars for their first birthday either.)

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

We've had another beautiful, hot, sunny day; and Rowen and I spent most of it outside playing and having fun.

Our fun didn't include spending much time with Violet, since she was at Quarry Lake most of the day with Dillon, Jake, and Stephanie. Mom, Ethan, Ehlana, and I did get to talk with her for an hour or so around and during breakfast, but she was already on the road for Quarry Lake by the time that Alicia got to the house to start work. Maybe Rowen and I will get some play time with Violet tomorrow. Dillon, Jake, and Stephanie will all be back to work; so she might be available for some canoeing or swimming with us.

Our day wasn't quite up to Quarry Lake-level fun, but Rowen and I did go for a long bike ride this morning; we went swimming several times; played at the park; and managed to still find time for two ice cream stops at the Emporium. Lunch was a picnic to go that we ate at the park, and since Violet was still out with her friends; Mom just went with bakery buns, assorted cold cuts, and salad sides for dinner.

With a game coming up this weekend, everyone on our team worked a little harder than usual during our practice, and then Rowen came home with me for a swim and ice cream cool-down break. Since Violet was away, we did a Magi lesson with Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana after that; and then Rowen went home while I helped Mom with getting the twins ready for bed.

Violet and Dillon got home in time for goodnight hugs and kisses with Ethan and Ehlana, but then they went over to his house for a couple of hours. Mom and I worked in the office for a while after they left, and then we both went up to bed at about eleven-thirty. I've been doing a little archive studying since then; mostly to go over the reading that went with tonight's lesson, and to catch up on the latest archive entries that Uncle Adam wrote in our Magi Project journal.

Since I am supposed to be on summer vacation, I'm going to finish this up and get some sleep. Maybe I'm just out of 'fun' shape, but I'm more tired from playing all day than from any recent long school and late-night work marathons. The good news is that there are going to be a lot of fun days ahead for me to work on that with.

Anyway, that's all the news for today, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Violet finally had some free time to play with Rowen, Ethan, Ehlana, and me this afternoon while Dillon was working at the Inn. We had a lot to talk about, and managed to do a little canoeing, swimming, and just laying around doing nothing by the river too.

There was rain in the forecast today, but it didn't get here until after the Arrows' baseball practice. Rowen and I watched Ethan, Ehlana, and Naomi while Mom, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Leanne practiced, and after getting home; Uncle Adam and Violet helped me with getting the twins ready for bed while Mom and Aunt Leanne worked on the shopping trip and birthday party plans for Friday.

After Ethan and Ehlana were sleeping, and Violet was off to meet up with Dillon, Mom did a short Healing lesson with Uncle Adam and me before he and Aunt Leanne went home. Mom and I were both ready for some Jacuzzi time by then, so I've had a nice long soak first, and have been working on my computer since climbing into bed with Mandy. The usual email and entertainment check didn't take long, but I read through the archive material Mom assigned us to go along with the Healing lesson tonight, and then I did a little work on couple of our future plans projects.

That's had me thinking about the near future, and it's probably time for an update.

I'm not involved in the first two weddings of the summer, but Grandpa Grant and Eleanor Byrd are getting married a week from Saturday, and Amy White and Jared Spencer are getting married the Saturday after that. We're not invited to either reception, and Grandpa Grant and Eleanor are just doing a small ceremony with family and a few friends, but Rowen and I are planning on going to the church to see Amy and Jared's ceremony. Aunt Deborah and Nick have their big day five weeks from this Saturday, and Aunt Leanne and Uncle Adam will be doing a lot with them for that once we get past the shopping trip and fourth of July holiday. The last wedding of the summer for our families is Rob and Trish's on the second Saturday of August, but it will only be the Johnson and Carrington families going on a road trip for that wedding.

Since Mom and Dad got married in the fall, and Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne had a spring wedding, this is really my first summer with a lot of family or friends summer weddings. With the extra parties and everything else, there will be something wedding-related going on for at least half the summer. I won't have much extra happening with all of that, but the adults will be quite a bit busier than usual.

Moving on to other summer plans, the Fourth of July is on Wednesday this year, so we aren't going to have the usual family incoming, but the parents are working on the details for kid vacation visits. Mom and Dad are working our end of that around what Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne will be doing with his cousins, but it looks like we'll probably have the younger cousins here for the week after Aunt Deborah and Nick's wedding, and the older cousins for the two weeks after that – ending in time for Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne to take their cousins to Rob and Trish's wedding.

Other than the weddings, what hasn't been worked out much at all is what we're going to do during those three weeks. I'm a little scared about having two weeks around here with Chris and Martin like we had last summer – especially if my older friends are hanging around them all of the time again. Let's not think about that until we have to, and move along.

The last bit of news I have on the summer plans is that Rowen and I will be doing the riding program at the Ridge River Ranch again this summer; starting the day after the Fourth of July holiday. Mom's setting up some weekend rides too, and I think that Violet's looking at doing some extra riding with Dillon and their friends; though that would likely be on their days off from the Inn.

It's getting late, and I've got another busy play day ahead, so it's time to call it a night. Two more sleeps to the big shopping day – and Ethan and Ehlana's first birthday. That is going to be an awesome wrap-up for the work (summer play) week! Until next time...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Rowen and I canoed, swam, biked, and played all day. Mom kept me busy after dinner with Magi lessons and helping with the twins while she and Aunt Leanne did one last check of the shopping trip arrangements before sending out the final, final group and travel lists.

I've had a shower, and am in bed and ready to get some sleep; and it isn't even ten o'clock yet! Watch out Crystal Springs – I am so going to be ready to shop tomorrow!

Live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off and getting ready for a shop 'til I drop day!

Friday, June 22, 2012

Happy 1st Birthday, Ethan and Ehlana!

Mom and I skipped Tai Chi this morning – we had enough on the go getting ready to be at the Inn for the buffet breakfast by seven. We had one gift each for Ethan and Ehlana to open before we left, but the morning for all of us was the amazing food that Jacob and Miranda put together for their very appreciative customers. Ethan and Ehlana were given a few gifts too, including one from Miranda, and since Dillon was working at the Inn with Jake all day; he and Violet gave the twins their presents then too.

We were on the road by eight o'clock, and Rowen and I went with our Moms, Aunt Leanne, and the twins. Violet drove too, and she had Stephanie and two of their friends with her. The trip to the Mall was a fast as it always seems to be on the way there, and then it was time to get on with the shopping!

One thing that was different for this trip was the make-up of our shopping group. We didn't have any teens with us, or any of the girls that Rowen and I usually ended up with. That was mostly because Mom and Aunt Leanne had set up our group to include Naomi and Sophia Bassett to hang out with Ethan and Ehlana. With the Moms, and Sophia's sister, Jessica, we had a big enough group; so Rowen and I were the senior kids, and eight-year old Jessica was our adoring little shadow for the day.

I love everything about my life in Witch Falls, but today I did learn that Ethan and Ehlana don't always have it better than I did when I was their age, and it was just Mom and me. The average one-year old probably doesn't care at all about what they're wearing, but I know that I did, and Ethan and Ehlana do. Unfortunately, they couldn't exactly discuss their shopping choices with the Moms, Aunt Leanne, and Grandma today; though Ethan did venture a couple of well-timed 'yucks' that earned him some laughs and hugs. Ehlana didn't have very many fashion choice issues as Ethan did, but then she did have some shopping support from Naomi and Sophia; while he had no guy-perspective help at all.

Rowen and I stayed with our group for most of the day, but we also had a little time alone with Aunt Leanne and Patricia after lunch so we could pick up a few things, like underwear, without the extra audience; and a pair of gifts for Ethan and Ehlana. Before doing that, we shopped until noon; took everything out to the vans and cars; had lunch in the food court; and done a little shopping with Violet, Stephanie, and their group before splitting up again.

As usual, we had a post-Mall stop at Wal-Mart for anyone that wanted to go there, and then we moved on to the usual steakhouse we went to for sit-down meals.

Dad and Angela were meeting us there from the courthouse, while Terry got there from a job site by the time we had everyone invited to Ethan and Ehlana's birthday dinner from the shopping group together again and in the process of being seated at the group of tables that had been reserved for us. I didn't get to see Terry and Angela very often, but Dad saw Angela around the courthouse during the weeks he was in the city, and always went out to dinner with her and Terry at least once every trip too; so Mom and I were kept up-to-date with Angela's pregnancy. Hearing the stories wasn't nearly as much fun as seeing her today at about six months along, and having her tell us some of those stories in person.

Taking a quick side note, we had one, little future plan issue to take care of today, and Dad and Aunt Leanne did that by recruiting Terry to work as a consultant civil engineer for all of the construction projects we were going to be doing – starting with some roads we'll need to start the actual work on by September. He was really happy to take the job, and I was glad to see one more little piece of the puzzle drop into place.

Ethan and Ehlana were at one of the biggest tables in the restaurant, but Rowen and I sat with Violet, Stephanie, and their friends to leave two more spots open at the main party table. That made my end of our reunion with Dad short and sweet, and we missed out on some of the birthday action, but Rowen and I did really love getting to spend an hour or so with Violet and Stephanie. We'd met at the restaurant for six-thirty, and it was past eight-thirty by the time we were carrying Ethan and Ehlana's gifts out to the parking lot, and loading up to head for home. Aunt Leanne ended up driving Dad's truck home, and Patricia, Rowen, and I went with her so that Mom and Dad could have that time with just Ethan and Ehlana.

Back at home by a bit after ten; it was time to get some work done; unloading vehicles, and getting our purchases into various houses. Mom and Dad stopped in at our house first, but then she and Aunt Leanne needed to make a little run around town to drop off some other shopper purchases after we unloaded everything that was ours first. That included Rowen's things, and I helped her carry bags to her house before we came back to my house again and joined the porter crew to carry everything up to the second or third floor.

Dillon and Jake came over straight from the Inn to meet up with their girlfriends; and the four teens stayed for a snack and chat with us once the work was done. Uncle Adam had come over too, and he and Aunt Leanne took care of part two of our future plans plan for today by talking about getting Terry hired as our civil engineer consultant, and moving along to another discussion of the lab that was all about nudging Dillon and Violet into thinking about career and education options that wouldn't have been possible for them in Witch Falls before. I think we're just about there with them, and Ehlana was particularly happy about that.

Rowen and I have a game in the morning, so she went home after our snack break, and I came up to my room to unpack my bags and then get to bed. I only planned on checking my email and writing this journal entry, but a couple of little work issues were waiting for me; so I took care of them too, and now it's nearly one o'clock already.

I really need to be ready for the game, and though I've skipped over quite a bit of today's adventures, that'll have to do for now.

Live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Live from Witch Falls, and Rowen's back yard; this is Cassie and Rowen with today's journal report!

Our Real Estate Rovers won again today against Connor's Colonists. We were the home team, and didn't need to play the bottom of the sixth inning; earning a fairly lop-sided, ten-to-four victory. We had Aunt Leanne, Violet, and Ehlana on our cheer squad today, so that helped, but I think that there were more tired out shoppers on the Colonists' team than on ours. Maybe we should book shopping trips before all of our games!

We had our usual pos-game trip to the Emporium for ice cream, and then I went home to change and get to work in the back yard while Rowen needed to hit the shower before going over to the computer store. We both worked until mid-afternoon, and then were free to play again; though we started out by setting up our tent in Rowen's back yard and filling it with supplies for what would probably end up being another two-night camping adventure. Conveniently, Ethan and Ehlana were doing a sleepover with Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne; leaving Mom and Dad on their own for the night. Let's move on from that thought, shall we?

After setting up our camp, Rowen and I biked to the park, played there for a while, went for a swim, and then we headed back to our tent after stopping in for some goodnight hugs and kisses with Mom, Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana. By then, a second tent had been set up, and we didn't need three guesses to know who the extra campers were going to be. The boys weren't there right then, and Rowen and I ended up keeping busy while helping her parents with making dinner, and then cleaning up after. We stayed around our tent after that, except for one more swim in the river shortly before dark.

It wasn't until after dark that Patrick and Scott started goofing around as usual with us, and being in the back yard with minimal parental support gave them lots of opportunity to annoy us with their little jokes, games, and attempts at spying. They certainly had fun with all of that long after Rowen and I stopped being amused, and even as I'm writing this; they're still prowling around and trying to scare us. I'd suggest that it would be nice if they'd just grow up, but then again if that means being like Chris, Martin, or some of the other younger teen boys we know; that might just end up being worse.

The good parts of our camping have been the chat time; doing a little star watching while laying on a blanket; and the bakery snacks that weren't captured during one of the boys' first raids on our tent. It's not quite midnight, but we're going to wrap this up, and hopefully get some sleep once Patrick and Scott get tired of their games.

Until next time; it's lights out, campers!

Sunday, June 24, 2012

The top talk at church today was about Grandpa Grant and Eleanor's upcoming wedding this coming Saturday; with a lot of teasing aimed at Grandpa Grant for marrying a twenty-nine year old.

Today was a fairly normal, post-city week work day for Dad, so other than going to church; he mostly stayed in the office all day. Rowen and I spent a lot of time outside, though it was probably the hottest day of the year so far. We went swimming a lot; needed several ice cream breaks; and waited until after dinner to play at the park. We're camping again tonight, and so are Patrick and Scott. The heat has slowed them down a bit, or they're just tired out from their adventures in annoying late last night. Whatever the reason, Rowen and I are glad for the break; and we've even managed to have fun with the boys earlier when we all went for a swim, and then played a couple of games in the back yard.

Rowen and I played in the river with Violet, Ethan, and Ehlana for a while this afternoon too, but the twins weren't outside in the heat for long, and Violet was splitting the rest of her afternoon between a little work in the office, hanging out with Mom (and probably doing a lesson), and meeting up with Dillon whenever he was taking his breaks at the Inn. We saw Rebecca and Jenny during one of our ice cream runs to the emporium, and I'm really glad that I wasn't working in the kitchen at the Inn today. From how wrung-out they looked, the air conditioning probably wasn't quite keeping up with the temperature outside today.

Anyway, since moving into the tent for the night, Rowen and I have been listening to music and talking. She fell asleep about twenty minutes ago, and I've been doing my nightly computer routine since then. We're about to start the last week of June, and while we don't really have anything special planned, the weather forecast is mostly for more hot and sunny; and I'm sure that we'll manage to fill week two of our summer holidays with fun and excitement.

I've had enough of both for tonight, though, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Monday, June 25, 2012

The top news story today comes from Uncle Adam's cousins, Kevin and Elaine. We found out today that they're expecting their second child, and Elaine is due sometime near the end of next February.

Compared to that excitement, my day has been fairly uneventful. Rowen and I packed up our campsite this morning; spent the rest of the day playing, including a lot of swimming in the river; and then we split up at dinnertime for the rest of the night. Other than helping with the post-dinner cleanup, I've had a quiet night at home. I played with Ethan and Ehlana for an hour or so before Mom did a little Magi lesson with us, and then we did the usual bedtime routine before they were tucked in; Mom went to work in the office with Dad; and I came upstairs to my room.

I've only done my usual email check since climbing into bed with Mandy and firing up my computer, and I'm going to get some sleep as soon as I have this done, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

I don't have much to report today.

Rowen worked at the computer store this morning, so I spent that time working in the office on the family business. Violet spent the day with Dillon, Jake, and Stephanie; and they went out to play shortly after breakfast. As I write this, Violet still isn't home, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out what they were doing all day.

Mom and Alicia were busy with their usual morning work, and keeping up with Ethan and Ehlana; so I was pretty much on my own in the office until wrapping up in time for lunch. Rowen came over while I was still helping with the lunch cleanup, and then we were free to play for the afternoon. The park was unofficially kid central, and we biked over there; then stayed to play and swim until dinnertime – except for one short trip to the Emporium for an ice cream snack break.

We were having a baseball practice night easy dinner, and Rowen stayed for that before we were off and running again to our Rovers' practice. I don't want our team to get over-confident; but we really do have an awesome team this year! Grandma and Grandpa stopped by to catch part of the practice, though I suspect that Grandpa had the ulterior motive of going out for Emporium ice cream treats; since their visit was timed for near the end of our practice. Rowen and I were okay with that because we were invited to go along for that second stop on their evening walk.

Grandma and Grandpa walked home with us while we ate our ice creams, and then went to visit with Mom, Dad, and the twins while Rowen and I went for a long swim in the river. She headed home after that, and I went inside to join in on the extended bedtime routine with Ethan and Ehlana that included stories by Grandpa with telepathic support from me, and some Magi play time that we all had fun with.

I've been in my room since Ethan and Ehlana were tucked in and Grandma and Grandpa went home. The swim in the river had cooled me off, but I still needed some Jacuzzi time to get cleaned up, and then it took a while to get my hair brushed out and dried. Once that was done, I climbed into bed with Mandy and started my usual nightly computing. The email check didn't take long, since I'd kept up with that while working all morning, but I did spend an hour studying in the archives before getting around to this.

There really isn't anything else to write about from today, and I'm ready to shoot for another good night of sleep, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

It's time for another short update, and then I'm going to get some sleep.

Rowen and I canoed to the whirlpool and back today. We had a picnic lunch, and it was hot enough that we needed to stop a couple of times each way for cool-off swims. There was a group of teens already there by the time we got to the whirlpool, and four more kids joined us about a half-hour before we left to head home again.

We went for another swim after having an ice cream break with Mom, Violet, Alicia, Ethan, and Ehlana; and took the twins with us for that. Rowen stayed for another baseball practice night easy dinner, and then we spent the evening taking care of Ethan and Ehlana while Mom and Dad were busy playing with their friends.

Rowen went home after we were done at the park, and I had a quick shower before climbing into bed. Mom and Violet are probably still working on a lesson as I write this, and Dad's working in the office, but I've had enough fun for today, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Thursday, June 28, 2012

I think that today is the first time that I wish Rowen and I were going to a birthday party for one of the guys in our class.

Before you go all nuts over that (Aunt Leanne), my reason for wishing that is because Joshua's twelfth birthday party was at Quarry Lake today. He was having a guys-only party, so it wasn't like any of the other girls were invited either, and Rowen and I weren't interested in hanging out with a gang of eleven and twelve-year old boys; but we would have really loved being able to stay cool while playing in and around the lake. A few of the girls in our class apparently didn't have a problem with that, and just happened to pick today to go to Quarry Lake too. I'm not sure whether that should be chalked up to boy-crazy; or just plain crazy.

The good news was that those same boys were out of town for most of the day, and that was definitely noticeable around town, and especially at the park. Rowen and I weren't completely free of pests all day, because Patrick and Scott decided to try their very best to annoy us a few times while we were at the park. After our big canoe trip yesterday, we were ready for a comparatively quiet day, so Rowen and I mostly took it easy, even when we were at the park; floated around in the river a lot; and even spent nearly two hours just lying on a blanket under one of the big, shady trees by the river in my back yard later in the afternoon.

We had dinner at her house, and then played until about nine o'clock. After splitting up for the night, I did the bedtime routine with Ethan and Ehlana, and have been working on my computer since climbing into bed with Mandy after spending a little quality time in my Jacuzzi. There were a few family business issues that I wanted to work on tonight, and some family and friends emails to read and answer. I've spent some time in the archives too, and all of that's kept me busy for the past few hours, but it's after one now; and I'm ready to call it a night, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Friday, June 29, 2012

It's been yet another hot summer day, though we did get a short dash or two of rain here and there too.

Rowen and I have been free most of the day to play, though we also spent a couple of hours before dinnertime helping out at the computer store with getting ready for the extra holiday week business that Rowen's parents expect to have; mostly from area campgrounds, and visiting family and friends.

Mom and Dad were hosting our dinner and a movie night, and Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, Aunt Deborah, and Nick were all here for it this week. Rowen's here for a sleepover too, though we're doing that in my room tonight instead of camping. Dad and Nick were already working the grill by the time Rowen and I got home from Emerson's Computers, and Mom put us to work on setting the dining room table before getting us to play with Ethan and Ehlana while she and Aunt Leanne and Violet put together the dinner side dishes.

Our dinnertime chat was mostly about work and weddings, and then, after cleaning up, the movie part of our night was changed to a play and swim evening instead. We hadn't been able to swim in the river with so many of our favorite grownups very often so far this year, and we had a lot of fun – especially while Ethan and Ehlana were in the water with us. We went to the park to play, and watched a bit of baseball while we were there, but after that, Violet went to meet up with Dillon at the Inn; the rest of our guests went home or moved on to other plans; and Rowen and I helped Mom and Dad with Ethan's and Ehlana's bedtime bath, story, and snack.

We've been in the lounge since then, watching a movie, chatting, and surfing the net on our computers. The movie is nearly finished, and we both have work in the morning – in the yard for me, and at the store for Rowen – so we're going to pack up now and head for bed. The only news story around town tomorrow will be Grandpa Grant and Eleanor Byrd's wedding, and I'll include any wedding stories tomorrow. Until then, though...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Congratulations, Grandpa Grant and Grandma Eleanor!

The wedding ceremony and reception were only for close family and a few friends, and Grandma and Grandpa were the only members of our family who were there. Rowen and I did get to congratulate the happy couple when we just happened to pass by the church just shortly after the ceremony ended. I'm sure that nobody believed that it was the coincidence that we pretended it was. I almost never thought about it, but close family included Stephanie, and she and Jake looked like they were definitely enjoying a rare summer Saturday off from the Inn.

Rowen and I got to hear a few, short wedding stories then, but the full recap will have to wait until tomorrow, when I expect Grandma and Grandpa will need to tell Mom and Aunt Leanne all about the wedding and reception. I'm not sure how she's going to spin being a twenty-nine year old grandmother, but I wasn't the only person using Grandma Eleanor and Grandpa Grant today – including their kids, grandkids, and in Grandma Eleanor's case; great-grandchildren.

This morning, after seeing Rowen off to work, I spent the morning out in the yard. Cutting the lawn and gardening were my jobs this week, and it took me until nearly one before I had the last garden weeded. Mom had lunch nearly ready by then, so I jumped in the river to cool off and get the dirt off, and then I was set free to meet up with Rowen for our afternoon play and post-wedding bike-by hugging plans.

Our play time included hanging out at the park with some of our friends, and we all spent a lot of that time swimming in the river. We split up for dinner, and then went for a bike ride before going for one more swim shortly before dark. Rowen headed home after our swim, and I went inside for a little cuddle and Magi time with Mom, Dad, Violet, Ethan, and Ehlana until Violet went to meet up with Dillon after he was finished working at the Inn.

I haven't been in bed long, but I'm skipping most of my usual bedtime computing. It's been a long day; I'm really tired out; and July will start soon whether I'm awake to see it or not, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

***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 Journal is also available for free at my  Smashwords Author Page.
