monique

Driving Mom Crazy and Friday Five

The day started with no problems. The doctor's office
called and rescheduled my appointment so I had the whole
morning to do what I wanted. That is, until the mail
arrived. There was a letter to Gavin from Johns Hopkins,
dated March 13, which stated that something in his
application was missing and that if he didn't get it to JHU
by March 22, his application would be closed. ACCK! March
22nd is today! I called JHU and after several attempts,
got through. They didn't have a copy of his transcript, I
was told, and he needed to have the school FAX it to them
today. ACCK! again. Our district doesn't have school on
Fridays and Spring Break is next week. Was there anyone
even there? Yes, it turns out there was. One of the
secretaries was and she said she'd FAX it right away. WHEW!

Then Gavin was re-reading a letter he recently received from
the University of Oregon which *seemed* to indicate he'd
been accepted but he wasn't sure. He went to their webpage
and put in his password. Please call the admissions office,
it said. He called. He was denied admission! WHAT! How
could an honor student with high SATs be denied? Turns out
he hasn't taken two years of foreign language and his
promise to take it in college wasn't good enough. They had
so many applicants they had to let those who'd met all the
requirements in first. However, he happened to be speaking
to the Director of Native American Affairs and she told
him if he took two college terms of a foreign language
before September he would be granted conditional admission.
Spring term at the community college begins a week from
Monday. Now what? No time to think about that! It was
time to pick up Owen!

When we got home I went to the community college website.
There was ONE Spanish 101 class which still had openings. It
meets 5:00-6:50, UH, in Corvallis. Okay, we can do that.
The tuition and books will be about $200. Okay, we can
do that. He's an underage (under 18) student so he needs a
form filled out and signed by the school counselor and a
school administrator before he can register. ACKK! I called
the school again. The vice principal and counselor were in.
They were the ONLY ones in! Get Gavin, go to the school and
get all the papers signed. We'll be going to the community
college campus Monday morning to register him and have our
fingers crossed that the class is still open. The Director
of Native American Affairs told Gavin, by the way, that he
has an excellent chance of receiving a full-ride scholarship
so this is worth it!

Then it was back home so that Gavin could go get his track
stuff, then back to the high school for track practice. I
worked on dinner and then picked Gavin up just before John
got home.

Tomorrow I have to bring Gavin to the high school at 7:00
a.m. so he can take the school bus to Oakridge for a track
meet. Gavin talked to his coach about track and that
he'd have to take a Spanish class. His coach made it very
clear that getting into college was the priority and that
they'd find a way so that Gavin could take his class
and still participate in track if he wanted to. I was happy
to hear that.
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Now to the Friday Five.

Friday Five

1. What is your favorite time of year?
The easy answer is *the next one*! But if I had
to pick one it would be summer.

2. What is it about your favorite season that, well, makes
it your favorite season?
The weather's warm, the flowers are blooming and
there's lots of good things to eat (fresh corn, blackberry
pie-yum. yum!) and lots of things to do!

3. What is your least favorite time of year? Why?
March! Winter is over but it's not quite
spring yet. It's muggy while the weather decides which way
to go.

4. Do you do anything to celebrate or recognize the changing
of seasons?
We celebrate the winter solstice but that's
because that day also happens to be our wedding anniversary.

5. What's your favorite thing to do outside?
Work in the dirt. Gardening is a passion,
especially flowers.