All of the sudden, it’s SENIOR YEAR.

Surprise!

I hate it when important things like that sneak up on me. There I was, watching Netflix in the summer sun. Now I’m a month into homework, staying up late and getting up early.

So, what’s the lineup? I have some college classes. I am in the school musical, Curtains. I am also the Online Editor of the school newspaper. We are singing”The Circle of Life” in my choir class. All the while, I am running with the cross country team and preparing for my dance team’s Halloween show, Wicked Jig. I also have the amazing opportunity to serve on my high school’s seminary council this year! I am loving the Doctrine and Covenants and Early Morning Seminary.

Phew. I’ll be honest. It’s not easy. But I know in the end, it will all be worth it.

I’m lugging textbooks around the halls like nobody’s business. They don’t fit in my bag. But they are making my arms extremely buff (they better be).

My government teacher saw me carrying two or three and said, “Hey, you need a backpack for all of your books! OH WAIT! You already have one.” Then he broke into a fit of laughter, thinking he was pretty hilarious.

I walked on, my tower of textbooks in hand(s) and my pride barely intact.

I promise life isn’t that dramatic. I just need a shopping cart to hold my textbooks. I’ll watch for one on the side of the road; people usually abandon them after going to WalMart.

My mother tells me I’m like Hermione Granger. I love it! She is my favorite Harry Potter character. She studies, has adventures, and is a loyal friend to Harry and Ron. We could be the best of friends.

I started my Christmas list:

Dear Santa Claus,

I need Hermione’s time turner for Christmas. Then I could study and watch movies and take a nap at the same time. Isn’t that a wonderful thought?

Yours, Miss McRae

Right now life is a lot of give and take. I think this school year’s theme is “You can do anything!…but you can’t do everything.” I’m learning the art of spreading myself thin…but not too thin, like a sad piece of Nutella-lacking toast. I guess I’m learning to spread myself even.

For me, failure is NOT an option. I wear my Apollo 13 shirt to remind myself of this whenever I have a terrifying test (which is all too often). It was the best purchase I made when we visited Kennedy Space Center a year or two ago. Is it lucky? Probably. Mostly it just reassures me that all is well and that I can do hard things, just like Tom Hanks ( astronaut Jim Lovell) in the movie Apollo 13.

Senior year is off to a running start. Homecoming Week just ended (a very exciting post telling the tale is coming soon to this blog near you) and now we’re right back at it. School is in session, folks, and I’ll be documenting all of my endeavors.

Also, some short stories are on the horizon! One involves a homework troll, another is about a middle-aged man who quits his job to start a rock band to prove a point to his mother-in-law. Shine up those reading glasses in preparation. They will be arriving on the blog shortly.

So, I can’t turn back time. (That reminds me of a Cher song!) And I’ll probably never have to save the life of my fellow astronauts in space. But senior year is quite the undertaking. There are plenty of adventures on the horizon! I’ll push my shopping cart of textbooks to the bittersweet end.