A "Black Weekend"

I have heard of "Black Friday" before, but never "Black Saturday." The Dispatch education blog featured a story about black saturday - the day when high school seniors are forced by parents to spend all day working on college applications and get them completed. I laughed when I read the story wondering how many of you were really locked in your rooms stressed out about trying to finish your college applications. Tonight, as I checked my e-mail, I realized the answer was a TON more than I had expected! :-) Hopefully you finished so you could enjoy today or else it was a black weekened with lots of application work.

Remember, if you are applying by December 1st and have not turned in a transcript release form you need to do this IMMEDIATELY tomorrow! You are already beyond the timeframe for turning in the forms to WKHS and in order to process them on time you need to get them in right away. We will do our very best to get them turned back around in time for the December 1st deadline. Please, do NOT put this off any longer!

So, how was the rest of your Thanksgiving? I hope it was relaxing and enjoyable! I had a great time with my niece and nephew. There are so many things I am thankful for each day and Thanksgiving provided plenty of time to reflect on them... included in my list was all of you. (And no, not just those of you who read the blog every night - although I am glad that this is useful...) Each student that I have the opportunity to work with and to walk alongside during your journey through high school is a blessing to me. I enjoy watching as you learn, grow, change, and mature during high school. I am also so thankful for all of you who make me laugh and bring joy to my day. And I am grateful for the "just because" visits when you drop by just to say hi. So, while it is a few days delayed, please know that I am thankful for you.

The only downside of my entire Thanksgiving break is that I was unable to sleep in at all. Wednesday one of my friends called and woke me up. He forgot we didn't have school and was trying to call early before school started. Thursday I was excited to wake up to play with Carly and Cole who had arrived late the previous night. Friday was the day I officially lost my mind... I H.A.T.E. to shop and I really mean HATE!!! My sister and mom always joke that I become a totally different person when we go shopping because I dislike it so much. (I would much rather just have them do all of my shopping for me and pay them for everything they buy.) So, that is why it is even more insane that I woke up at 4:30 in the morning to go shopping with my sister and my mom. The reality was, if I didn't go with them when they were available and willing to help me shop, I would be totally on my own to shop for Christmas and I *needed* their help. The good news is that we were pretty successful and I have the majority of my shopping done. :-) We also went to see Sesame Street Live on Friday afternoon - did you know everything can be music? :-) It was cute and my niece enjoyed it. (Cole preferred running around out in the concourse area.) Saturday was more travelling to see family and, sadly, today was helping to pack my sister and her family up to head home.

I'm looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow and hearing about your Thanksgiving breaks!