Heirs of the Magi Archives: Cassie's Journal 2015 - Part One

By Steve Leggett

Magi Master Cassie Proctor is abut halfway through her first year of high school; and turning fourteen in February. Enjoy the daily glimpses into her life in Witch Falls as her adventures continue during the years between the end of Magi Master and the start of Magi Ascension. While Cassie loves her life in Witch Falls, being a teen Magi Master doesn't exempt her from normal teen life - and the responsibilities that go along with the job can sometimes make it tough just to keep up with everything. Thankfully, she has an amazing family, boyfriend, and best friends to help her out - and join in on the fun and adventure; so come and find out why Witch Falls is such a great place to visit and live!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve Leggett
• Release date: Jun 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9780994002020

Steve Leggett

I've been an avid reader since my early childhood, and though I've been legally blind for around twenty years now, that love of books has continued, despite the challenges. The bug to try seriously writing books hit me in 2007, and I started with writing fan fiction stories, which was a great way to learn how to develop story lines and existing characters, as well as do research and new character creation. The feedback from readers, both positive and negative, was also a very important part of the learning process. Two million or so words, and several thousand pages later, and I was ready to start Heirs of the Magi. Fantasy epics and series are my favorite books. Whether I'm visiting the worlds created by authors like Andre Norton and Frank Herbert, or exploring the magic closer to home, like with Nora Roberts and so many other classic and contemporary writers, it's the more intimate involvement with the people and places that these books create that I love most. That's the type of story I had in mind when I began developing Heirs of the Magi, and I hope that you will love the books as much as I've loved bringing them to you!

Book preview

Heirs of the Magi Archives

Cassie’s Journal 2015 – Part One

By Steve Leggett

Published by Steve Leggett - Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2015 – Steve Leggett

Cover Image by Kayla Leggett - Copyright 2015 - Used by Permission

ISBN: 978-0-9940020-2-0

Books by Steve Leggett

Heirs of the Magi Trilogy

Magi Sanctuary

Magi Master

Magi Ascension – Part One – The Ascension Begins

Magi Ascension – Part Two – Light Your World (Forthcoming)

Heirs of the Magi Archives

Cassie's Journal 2011

Cassie's Journal 2012 - Part One

Cassie’s Journal 2012 – Part Two

Cassie’s Journal 2013 – Part One

Cassie’s Journal 2013 – Part Two

Cassie’s Journal 2014 – Part One

Cassie’s Journal 2014 – Part Two

Cassie’s Journal 2015 – Part One

Cassie’s Journal 2015 – Part Two (Forthcoming)

The Catalyst Chronicles

The Catalyst is Born

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

January 2015

February 2015

March 2015

April 2015

May 2015

June 2015

Notes

January 2015

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Happy New Year!

My start to 2015 has been great, so let’s get right into the highlights; picking up the story where I left off yesterday – or last year!

By the time I got to the Inn yesterday afternoon, the dining room was already closed to the public for the rest of the day and the decorating and set-up for the tickets-only dinner and party had been started. Since Michael was still helping with the post-lunch clean-up, I was put to work in the kitchen too on the prep-line instead of the work in the dining room. Helping out with the mounds of veggies wasn’t as exciting as decorating and the rest of the action in the dining room; but hanging out with Michael, Rebecca, Jacob, and Jake was entertaining enough.

I guess this is as good a place to begin adding in the football action part of this update; since the sport is unavoidable in a football town on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Michael’s been really good from a boyfriend perspective when it comes to the sport, but he was right there with the rest of the guys to watch the games yesterday and today; and I wouldn’t want him to break man-laws and get into trouble from skipping the annual bowl game event – especially when this is the first year of the new playoff format for the national championship. While I don’t really care about the games or results; I’ll admit that it was fun both yesterday and today when I had the opportunities to add a bit of entertainment to the football mix with my little talent for predicting the play calls and results. That kind of goofing around helped to make the work in the kitchen easier for all of us, but the real fun for Michael, Rebecca, and I didn’t kick in until we took our dinner break and temporarily joined the party in the dining room.

Lucas, Jenny, and Lance were there already, and were at the dessert stage of the meal by then; but they still hung out with us while we ate – and they kept us entertained with their New Year’s Eve day stories. We didn’t take a lot of time for that break because we wanted to help get as much of the work in the kitchen done as early as we could so that we could all be done earlier and enjoy more of the party – at least until the midnight buffet needed to go out shortly after we rang in the New Year. Jenny and Lance didn’t stay for very long after that either because they were heading over to his house and a party there for the rest of the night – which was also why Jenny wasn’t helping out at the Inn. She hasn’t spent much time there at all so far this holiday, but I’m not really surprised by that – she’s been spending as much time with Lance as possible while they’re both off from school. I’d probably do the same thing if Michael and I were in the same situation they are.

Though we were part of the second wave of staff to take our dinner break, there was still lots of work to do in the kitchen to clean up and get most of the trays ready for the midnight buffet; so it was ten o’clock by the time that Michael and I were done and had taken a bit of time to freshen up before rejoining the party. Okay, we might have been slightly delayed due to finding ourselves temporarily alone; but that few minutes was hardly enough time for a major make-out session – just a few kisses and caresses.

Once we were free for a couple of hours, we did a quick round of visits with our families and friends; caught the end of the last football game of the night that was all but over by then anyway; and then we hung out with Rowen, Tim, Rebecca, Lucas, and some of the other teens until it was nearly midnight. There was time for a bit of dancing too; but it didn’t seem like very long before we did the countdown to midnight with Mom, Dad, Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, Aiden, and everyone else hanging out with them. The first kiss of the New Year with Michael was pretty good, but not too hot – our parents were right there, after all; so we took it easy on them! ;^)

We had time to share other hugs and kisses too, but then it was back to work for a while as we helped to set-up the buffet and then clean up after everyone had finished snacking. A little more dancing and partying was an option after that, but parents with younger kids had already left by then; the party was winding down; and we were back at work by shortly after two o’clock to get the kitchen and dining room ready for business on Friday morning. That was entirely so that nobody would need to come and do that work sometime on New Year’s Day; though it was also a choice that Miranda and Jacob give their staff most years – and everyone usually picks staying late and getting the work done.

I was okay with that; and going home with Michael and his family was great. So was the sofa sleepover with Michael; and that started out with some bonus entertainment when Miranda jokingly tucked us in and kissed us goodnight – knowing as well as we did that we had no intention of going up to separate rooms after a little cuddle time. Rebecca and Lucas thought that was as funny as everyone else did, but they didn’t have a problem with it either – especially since it gave them the chance to possibly have their own little sleepover. I’m not saying that happened for sure; but I’m not saying it didn’t either. By this morning, that was a case of we won’t ask; and just pretend that we don’t know what those smiles mean.

Jacob might have a different perspective on that for Rebecca than he does for Michael; but Miranda doesn’t. Lucas is still shyer than Michael, so if Jacob really wants to be worried about things like that for the four of us; I’m probably the one teen he should worry about most.

Not that I’m saying he actually has anything to worry about with me leading his son astray or anything! ;^)

Anyway, other than having a very minor make-out moment or five once we were alone in the living room, that’s pretty much all of the New Year’s Eve news. Michael and I fell asleep; got to have about three hours of nap time; and then we stayed at his house for Tai Chi for two before having breakfast with his family. I needed to go home as soon as we finished the kitchen clean-up; and Mom and Dad put me to work right away to help them out with the party set-up and lunch prep work. The second half of that was mostly putting food trays together and keeping an eye on the pre-cooked dishes that were being re-heated. There were two crock pots doing the slow-cooking thing too; but we didn’t have to do anything with them except move them to the buffet table when it was time to feed the troops.

We had extra help and incoming food donations being arriving at eleven, and while that started a bit of a social hour that meshed with the work time; the party really got started at noon – at the same time we put the lunch buffet out. Football ruled the action in the living room, and the lounge was the primary girl zone for the day – at least for the teens and kids. That usually included the younger boys too; though they mostly played other games in my room or the exercise room and only stopped into the lounge for snacks, drinks, and the occasional chat with their favorite girls.

I had some teen friends to hang out with now and then too; but not for the entire day; since most of the teens at our party also had other places to spend parts of the day too. Rebecca, for example, was at our party first; but then went home with Lucas and his family for the night – and other parties they were attending at two other farms. Rowen and Tim were at his aunt and uncle’s house for dinner and the evening football action; and Michael and I were two of the few teens standing at my house by dinnertime. That was mostly because our adult guests mostly had younger kids; which is also why Ethan and Ehlana had lots of kids to play with – and I was kept busy with kid control when I wasn’t helping out with meals or clean-ups. That still meant having lots of play time; but not of the teen variety – and not much alone time with Michael either.

Our dinner meal was buffet-style and on-the-go too, and while eating in the dining room was an option; most of the football watching group filled plates and went back to the game in progress in the living room. I did that too so that I could hang out with Michael, or Dads, and the other guys, but I can’t say that I found the game all that exciting. The hanging out together was the fun part of that half-hour or so that we spent together before I moved on to more work in the kitchen.

After a very late New Year’s Eve, I was actually thinking more about having a nap by then than doing anything else, but I mostly went back to playing with the kids after the work was done; through until the Moms or Grandmothers started taking the youngest kids home to bed. Ethan and Ehlana kept Naomi and Aiden for the night; and my play time ended when I helped out with getting them tucked in for the night at around nine-thirty. Then I was free to either watch movies in the lounge with the girls or hang out in the living room with Michael and the other guys. I chose both – watching the end of a movie in progress; and then going to cuddle with Michael while the last game of the day was on the television.

By then, the guys had watched or kept up with the first four games; and Oregon had pretty much beaten up on Florida State in the second half of their game for a big win to earn the first of the two championship playoff games. Alabama and Ohio State were battling it out for the other spot in that championship game; but I’ll be honest and admit that I was just there for the cuddle time with my boyfriend. I wasn’t the trend-setter for that; but I was an early-adopter; and it wasn’t long before most of the women still there gave up on movie time and joined us in the living room. That got a bit crowded; but we had fun with it.

Well, most of us had fun with it. I had a cat nap or two and missed quite a bit of the sports and entertainment while enjoying the rest and cuddle time with Michael. If he dozed off too, he didn’t admit it to any of the guys; but I wouldn’t be surprised if he did join me for some of my nap time.

As mentioned already, man-laws might have been broken if every football fanatic guy in the country didn’t watch those two playoff games, so it was fairly late by the time Ohio State managed to beat Alabama 42-35 and win their shot at the National title against Oregon. By then, I was ready to call it a night, but it took a while to see our guests out, and after saying goodnight to Michael when he left with his family; I also needed to help out with the final clean-ups in the living room, kitchen, and the lounge. That’s why it was after two before I got back up to my room and had a chance to get changed. Mandy didn’t wake up when I climbed into bed with my computer because she got tired of the noise and wait; and decided to spend the night with Ehlana and Naomi.

Maybe I should have kept Michael for another sleepover too! ;^)

My nightly computer checks took a while, and I had a couple of family business jobs to take care of too; but I’ll be heading off to dreamland as soon as I wrap this report up. From the email reports around the family, it sounds as though my cousins all had fun on New Year’s Eve; and I hope that they’re all having a wonderful start to the New Year too. We only have a play day planned for tomorrow, but Dad’s taking the day off; so Ethan, Ehlana, and I will be hanging out with him – and with Mom. There aren’t any plans – we’ll just wing it and do whatever we feel like doing – or nothing at all.

I’ll let you know how that goes, but that’s all of the news I have for today and it’s definitely time to get some sleep; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Friday, January 2, 2015

Our family and friends play day has been fun, and I’ve loved spending the time with Mom, Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana; I don’t actually have much news to report today.

Michael didn’t come over for Tai Chi this morning because he helped out with the breakfast shift at the Inn today so that he could take the rest of the day off to hang out with me. They didn’t have a very busy day at the Inn anyway; since most people around here were taking a break from all of the holiday action. While Michael was busy, I had some work to do around the house anyway, and after having breakfast and cleaning up; we took care of the chores around the house pretty much until Michael was set free for the day.

It didn’t get very warm outside today – just a bit above freezing; but we had some play time outside that included a trip to the park – mostly so that we could get some fresh air and a bit of exercise after a couple of big food days. We did a bit of visiting while we were out too; but were home in time for lunch – and the start of another round of college football bowl games. The big match-ups were pretty much done for the season already, except for the Championship game a week from this coming Monday; which is why the games were on at least one television around the house today; but Dad, Michael, and any visiting guys didn’t really pay all that much attention to the sports action on the tube.

Video gaming in the lounge was a big part of the afternoon and early evening, though; and there were usually at least a half-dozen willing gamers in the house for most of that time as we had our fair share of visitors stopping in for either cameo moments or to hang out with us for a couple of hours. Rowen and Tim were in the second group for that; and came over for the afternoon while their parents were busy with work at the computer store and shop. They had other plans for tonight, though I guess it’s more accurate to say they had a non-plan for tonight – more like a hope for some alone time together without family and friends around to get in the way of a little one-on-one fun.

That worked out for Michael and me, and the highlight of our day was the clothing-optional make-out time we got to have after Ethan and Ehlana went to bed for the night – and Mom and Dad decided to turn in early too after a couple of very busy, long days and late nights. That was probably our last chance of the holidays for any seriously hot play time for two; so Michael and I are both very happy campers tonight – even without shooting for another sofa sleepover. We should probably take a little break from that anyway to make sure we don’t push our lick with the parents too far and mess that up for ourselves in the future.

Michael went home at midnight; and I’ve been doing my bedtime computing while having a soak in my Jacuzzi. I wouldn’t have done that if Mom and Dad had been sleeping already, but they weren’t – and we don’t need any details about what they’ve been doing instead since going to bed. There wasn’t anything new from around the family in my email inbox, but I did get a couple of friends’ updates for New Year’s Eve and Day; and it sounds as though most of my friends and classmates had fun over the past couple of days. I had a bit of family business work to deal with too, but that didn’t take long; and I pretty much just did a cursory scan of the usual news, sports, and entertainment information I check every day.

All that I have left to do for this update is to add a bit of news for the weekend plans. Rowen doesn’t have everything finalized yet, but Tim, Michael, and I are confirmed for a sleepover at her house tomorrow night; and we’ll spend the evening there too. If we have dinner together, we’ll have to take care of that ourselves instead of adding extra work to her parents’ already busy work weekend; but we’ll decide that tomorrow too – once we know how many teens and tweens we’ll have there for the night. I’m sure that Patrick and Scott will want to be there; but don’t know whether they’ll have other friends along as well when Rowen’s definitely extending other invitations. I’ll likely spend some time tomorrow afternoon helping her to get ready for the teen play night; but that’s going to be the top fun event of the weekend for sure – especially since Michael and I will be making up for that by working the full shift at the Inn on Sunday.

Oh, I guess there is one more bit of news that I’ve skipped – which is also why you haven’t read anything about Violet and Dillon yet in this report. They’re not in Witch Falls anymore; and left for Woodvale this morning so that they could spend the day with Chris, Martin, and Dawn – and then spend the weekend with Violet’s family before the kids head back to school on Monday. They’ll be back here on Monday so that they can do some extra work at the lab before heading back to school too; but I probably won’t get to spend much time with them anyway. At least Ethan and Ehlana will see them at the lab; since Mom will be working there a lot in January while Aunt Grace is still off from work. Josiah and Christina are doing the same weekend away thing with her family; so we aren’t going to have much of anything going on with our home-town family this weekend.

I do have that sleepover tomorrow night, though, so I’d better wrap this up; get ready for bed; and get some sleep. It’s hard to believe that we’re already down to just two days left in our Christmas holiday, and while I don’t really want it to end already; I guess that most of us are pretty much partied out at this point anyway. Okay, that’s it for tonight; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Saturday, January 3, 2015

There was only one college bowl game today, and I was looking forward to the upcoming football off-season; but Tim was happy to remind me that the professional football playoffs started today too – and we just had to watch the games while having our teen hang-out night and sleepover at Rowen’s house. I’ll get to that part of the update soon, but let’s start from the beginning of the day.

Tai Chi was good, but Michael skipped it again so that he could help out at the Inn with the breakfast rush and have a second evening off to join in on the fun at Rowen’s. We were having another play day at home, but had chores to do after breakfast first, so we got all of the work done – including a shopping run that Mom did with Ethan and Ehlana while Dad and I stayed home and worked. That didn’t actually leave a lot of time in the morning for us to actually do much playing, but we still had fun; and the soup and sandwiches lunch together was good too. The family play day continued after lunch, but I didn’t actually get to play all that much before it was time for me to pack an overnight bag and head over to Rowen’s house to help out with some work there to get everything ready for a teen dinner and hang-out evening.

I wasn’t in the loop for the negotiations with her parents, but the details had been finalized by the time I met up with Rowen. Rebecca and Lucas were the only extra overnight guests along with Michael, Tim, and me; with that decision mostly made so that Patricia and Owen wouldn’t have too many teens to deal with for breakfast in the morning. We were on our own for dinner, and while Michael and I pitched in for the cost of the food; Tim took care of picking up frozen pizzas, wings, snacks, and drinks while Rowen and I got her house ready for company. Rowen and Tim were free to invite as many friends to come over for the evening, and only had the end-of-party restriction of a one o’clock time limit. From what Rowen told me while we worked, it was Tim’s idea to invite everyone; so she was very glad when we did not end up with every teen and tween in town at her house tonight for dinner or the evening.

There are some advantages to last-minute plans – most of the older teens already had other commitments. We did get about half of our classmates either come for the entire evening or stop in for visits; ditto that for some of the guys on the football team and girls on the cheerleading squad; and Patrick and Scott had a couple of their buddies stop in for a while after dinner too – probably just to have the bragging rights that go along with attending a teen party when you’re their age. That isn’t exactly a wild and crazy event when you’re in our little town; but boys are generally easily amused anyway. ;^)

So Rowen and I cleaned the living room; got guest bedrooms ready; gave the rest of the main floor a once-over; and cheated to do all of that work because nobody else was in the house while we were working. It’s funny that Tim, Patrick, and Scott all seemed to arrive just in time – when we’d finished the chores. Yes, Tim did do the shopping; but it wasn’t exactly work for him to get to pick out all of the food, snacks, and drinks for the night – and he got a ride over here with the bags of groceries and bakery treats. I didn’t include Michael in that because he was working at the Inn until the prep work was finished for the dinner rush. So was Rebecca, and Lucas had been busy on the farm with his father all day; so they didn’t join us until the rest of our guests had already started arriving and Rowen and I had started cooking pizzas and wings.

That’s when the fun really kicked up a few notches for us – even though Rowen and I still had a lot of work to do while our boyfriends and friends mostly hung out in the living room and the guys watched the first of the two first-round pro football playoff games. We had at least a couple of girls keeping us company most of the time; with Sally and Gretchen spending the most time with us while their boyfriends were busy watching football and playing video games with the guys too. To be completely honest; I’d have picked doing the cooking over watching football anyway; though I did miss out on the cuddle time I didn’t get to have with Michael – not that we would have done much of that before, during, or immediately after dinner anyway.

We had twenty-four to feed, and since slightly more than half of them were teen or tween guys; that took a while. Taking care of dinner was part of the agreement with Rowen’s parents, and while she didn’t negotiate it; they opted to go out to dinner at the Inn instead of joining us for pizza and wings. I’m sure that they’re glad that they did that – and then moved on to visit friends instead of coming home and putting up with the noise level that twenty to thirty teens can generate – even in a big house like theirs.

The only news I’m going to add for the dinner part of the night is that Rowen and I told a few little white lies to the boys while we cooked and fed everyone. I’m not apologizing for that or anything – it was the only way we could divert some food to the girls in our group without just having them wait until after the guys were stuffed – which didn’t actually happen. Tim, Lucas, and some of the other guys just moved on from pizza and wings to dessert and the snacks without taking a break. In case you’re wondering, no, we didn’t make a mistake with our grocery order or dinner plan – the guys just kept eating as long as we kept the food coming. It was our choice to stop cooking pizzas after two hours of non-stop oven action – and we could cook them two at a time. We used up the rest of the pizzas for our midnight buffet that was also a cue to our friends that the party was wrapping up and it was time to head home by one.

While Rowen was the official host tonight, I was there for her every step of the way; so we didn’t get to have much play time until after the dinner clean-up was out of the way. That wasn’t too much work, since we had opted for using the fine Chinette, plastic utensils, and bottled and canned drinks; but it was after eight by the time we joined Michael, Tim, and the rest of our friends in the living room. An extra television was set up and dedicated to the football game; the boys were using the big screen for their gaming; and the girls mostly watched as our boys played and talked about what we’d all been doing over the New Year part of the holiday – and about heading back to school again on Monday. Some cuddle time with our boyfriends was an option now and then too – usually when they weren’t taking a turn with a game controller in their hands. The boys, as usual, talked football, and while the NFL games were co-leaders for the entertainment this evening; it was the college bowl games that they talked about most – particularly when it came to the new playoff format for the top four teams.

None of that was particularly interesting to me, but I add it here in my journal because it is something that’s important to a lot of my friends; and a part of life here in our little corner of the world. The guys would tell me that their sports enthusiasm is more interesting and important than any girl-chat topics if they were being honest – though most of them know better than to actually admit something like that to a group of girls in public. They’re not entirely wrong about that, since we didn’t exactly sit around and solve world hunger and poverty while they were playing video games and talking sports; but we were at least talking about our own lives instead of living vicariously through a bunch of strangers on sports teams that have absolutely nothing to do with us personally.

I’m not going to do any rants tonight; so let’s move along.

While we didn’t get to watch and chick flicks, and didn’t even bother putting any music on to just add to the noise level; Rowen and I did have fun for the rest of the evening. We started cooking more pizza for the midnight ‘buffet’ at eleven-thirty; and worked through until after everyone except our approved overnight group had left and gone home. Lucas, Rebecca, Michael, and Tim pitched in to help with most of that work and clean-up too; but Patrick and Scott were sent up to bed when Patricia and Owen got home and turned in for the night after just a quick update from Rowen and Tim – and a short visit with the rest of the teens. Going to bed after we had the kitchen and living room back to normal again was an option; but all six of us wanted some cuddle and wind down time with our significant other first; so we did that in the living room for nearly an hour while not really watching music videos on the big screen.

The only alone time Michael and I had all evening was when we split up for the goodnight kisses; and we did that in his bedroom while Rebecca and Lucas were in her room for that and Rowen and Tim had the living room to themselves. I was in Rowen’s room; changed; in bed; and already well-into doing my nightly computer checks by the time she joined me and then went to take her turn in one of the bathrooms to get ready for bed. That’s why I’m writing this while we’re just getting started on our girl chat recap of the evening – though she’d rather still be in the living room with Tim; and I wish my goodnight alone time with Michael had been as hot as her minor make-out session with Tim apparently was.

That thought has pretty much diverted all interest I have in computing or this update, so I’m going to wrap this up; continue with the much more interesting chat with my best friend; and then get some sleep that will hopefully include some entertaining dreams that have Michael starring in them in a clothing-optional sort of way.

I am so out of here! Until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Sunday, January 4, 2015

We’re back to very cold temperatures again today, and our last day of Christmas vacation was also white; thanks to the inch or so of snow that fell overnight and early this morning.

The snow added more work to our morning schedule, and Michael and I skipped Tai Chi in favor of a long round of shoveling at Rowen’s house – and at our homes too. We had lots of help for that; but it still kept us busy for a while – and we still had all of the usual Sunday morning action that included juggling bathroom time; getting ready for church; cooking, cleaning, and eating breakfast; and then getting over to the church on time for the service. Rowen’s parents had help for the last part of that, with my parents, and Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne, helping out with extra seats in their truck and minivans.

While this was a holiday weekend Sunday, the teen praise team wasn’t involved in the service; so it was mostly a normal Sunday for the teens and kids – and we also didn’t have anything special to get ready for during Sunday school either. We had fun, but I don’t really have any news to report from the rest of the morning. Actually, there isn’t much news for the rest of my day either. Michael and I went straight to the Inn with the rest of his family after church; I spent the rest of the day helping out there; and then I came home comparatively early – after the last batches of food of the day went out to the buffet tables. I would have stayed later if needed, but the turnout for the last buffet had been comparatively light; and they didn’t need the extra hands for the clean-up.

The only non-work news from the kitchen this afternoon would be the homework that Michael and I finished up on our breaks; and the non-surprise that the guys watched the two NFL playoff games while we all worked hard to keep up with the cooking and cleaning. On the home front, it was a homework afternoon for Dad; so Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana spent some or all of their afternoon in the office too. The twins had some snow play time with Naomi and Aiden too; but it was too cold for them to be outdoors for very long – and their friends had family plans to move on to by mid-afternoon.

I mostly came home early tonight because I’m worn out after quite a few late nights over the past week. Normally, I’d be back to my regular school night work and studies too, but instead of doing that; I only did my Magi lesson with Mom; helped with getting Ethan and Ehlana into bed for the night; and then hit my Jacuzzi for some quality tub time before getting ready for bed too. I took care of most of my nightly computing while in the tub, and once I finish this update; I’m going straight into nap mode for a solid eight hours or so.

There might not be long, busy days filled with holiday cheer and fun ahead of us this week, but I am going to be very busy; and I’ll be glad to have the extra sleep to be ready for the back-to-school action. If I’m going to get that extra sleep, though, I need to wrap this up and do that; so that’s it for now, and, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Monday, January 5, 2015

The top back to school story for today is probably the simple fact that our teachers had us jump right into our studies – and in particular; they have us getting ready for our first round of high school exams that are coming up in just two weeks. Those abrupt reminders in every class quickly took the shine off of the shiny New Year for some teens, and getting lots of review homework dumped on us wasn’t very exciting; but I was still having a pretty good day.

Tai Chi this morning was fun, and since Michael opted to stay for breakfast; that was more entertaining too. Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana spent a lot of their day at the lab while I was at school; and Dad was right back into the thick of it at work – especially because he’s going to have his trip to the city next week instead of trying to get everything done in four days after the Martin Luther King holiday for his normal third week of the month. Though the work that the rest of my family was doing today was way more important than mine; I really am okay with playing normal teen instead and getting to have a life with my friends that I wouldn’t have if I’d sped up my ‘real’ education the way Mom did after her parents died.

I’m not talking about the classes or studying for that, though the school work is an inevitable part of teen life. It’s the extra-curricular action that means the most to me – like the cameo moments between or during classes; lunchtime fun and entertainment; and everything else that goes into making school fun for us. Of course the best part of my day didn’t start until after school; and Michael and I had a really good night at his house while spending the evening with his family.

We’re running out of holiday time with Jake and Stephanie, and since this was a day off for Jacob and Miranda; they’d spent the entire day together. There’d been some chores to do mixed in with some play time, but the best part of that for Michael, Rebecca, and me was that Jacob and Jake had played in the kitchen too and had an amazing dinner for us that was beyond adequately describing in words so I won’t bother trying. Rowen and Tim came home with Michael and me to do our homework; but then they moved on after that while Rebecca, Michael, and I were put to work setting the table and joining in on the pre-dinner entertainment in the kitchen.

I loved getting to spend the evening with Michael and his family, and we had a really good time; but the only news I have is wedding-related – and most of that is just updates that I haven’t covered in my journal because I’ve been out of the loop for those plans. First up is the date – Saturday, August 1, 2015. There were other options, but Jake and Stephanie picked the last open weekend before they planned on leaving for Europe so that they can enjoy a honeymoon before starting their foreign exchange study programs. There was some consideration for holidays and work at the Inn too; but Miranda and Jacob – and Stuart and Samantha – would have worked with whatever their kids wanted.

Michael, Rebecca, and I were all asked to be in Jake and Stephanie’s wedding party tonight. We were the last to be asked; and I was a bit surprised to be included – even though I’d expected that Rebecca and Michael would be. Violet and Dillon are Stephanie’s and Jake’s maid of honor and best man; Lynn Jennings is the third bridesmaid; and Josiah Palmer and Mitch Bassett are going to be Jake’s groomsmen with Michael. I feel a bit weird about this – especially when Lucas and Christina aren’t in the wedding party too, but it was Jake and Stephanie’s choice; and it is going to be awesome to be part of their wedding – and especially since I’ll get to do that with Rebecca and Michael. We talked about their plans for an hour or so during and after dinner; but we spent most of our evening just enjoying being together and having a do-nothing kind of night.

I can’t say the same for after I got home. Mom had spent part of her evening getting Ethan and Ehlana started on their junior year of college after they’d finished dinner; but she switched to Magi teaching mode once I was back and spent an hour and a half doing a big lesson with me and then giving me a fairly large archive assignment. That’s why it was eleven-thirty by the time we had Ethan and Ehlana tucked in for the night and heading toward midnight before I was in bed and ready to start my usual school night studies, work, and computing.

It’s a good thing that I had that extra sleep last night because I’m not going to get more than a nap in tonight. The archive assignment took an hour and a half; and then I got started on my new languages. I’m going to be studying Korean and Tamil for the rest of this school year, and while I didn’t get much done tonight; I did at least get started. That still took more than another hour; and then it was time to move on to my family business work. Even kicking it up another notch or two on the Magi power scale; it still took me another hour and a half to get through the work I needed to do tonight – and that was just what absolutely couldn’t wait. I’m not really behind on any deadlines or anything after taking most of two weeks and change off; but it is going to take most of this week to get back to where I normally am in my work schedule.

I really don’t have time for more than a nap now, so I should wrap this up and get to that. We don’t have band practice tomorrow and our teen praise team gets the week off too, but Michael and I are still going to be busy; and I’m sure to have another late night without much down time. Maybe I’ll have to reconsider using a time phase more often again – at least for the next few weeks while keeping up with my ‘real’ studies and work and the added busy that goes along with high school exams. I want to spend extra time with Violet and Dillon before they head back to college too, and while I’m thinking about leaving home; Grandma and Grandpa will be leaving for South America next Monday. I’ll need to spend some time with them as well before they’re away for most of the winter on that trip and then their usual winter getaway in Florida and elsewhere.

Too bad I can’t go along!

Oh well, I wouldn’t want to do that without Michael, Rowen, and Tim anyway, so I’ll stick with plan ‘A’ and stay here at home with them. I’ll also wrap this up with that thought; and maybe spend my nap time dreaming of the warm and sunny that I won’t be enjoying with my grandparents in sunny South America – or anywhere else.

Until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Before I get into the news of the day, I just can’t resist taking another swing at meteorologists and news reporters over the silliness of polar vortices and the rest of the weather hype.

Give me a break! It’s January in the northern hemisphere; so it gets cold. This hasn’t been an abnormal winter so far; and it’s ridiculous to essentially get people worked up over non-events. Yes, it has been cold today; but not even remotely worthy of yet another winter weather warning. If the news media keeps freaking out over the slightest little cold front and every time we get more than a dusting of snow; where are they going to go from there if we actually do get a real snowstorm?

Oh right, we saw what happens with that storm in Buffalo. The media everywhere went nuts over it; and the people living there mostly tried to have fun with it – since freaking out was pointless. Reporters in general ought to take a hint from that too. What I remember most from that storm isn’t anything I saw, heard, or read on the news networks or papers – it was the social media pictures of people making beer fridges in the snow piled up outside of their front or back doors.

Anyway, that’s enough of a rant for today; so let’s get on with the update and news of the day.

First up today on the news front is the start of winter weight training for Tim and Michael. They were a group of two for that today; and there apparently wasn’t much interest from the rest of the guys on the football team for doing that this year. Tim obviously doesn’t have the same pull with the other guys that Kyle had when he was here; though they will have some guys join them soon. Lucas wants to work