I am somewhat dreading today...

So right now I am sitting in my bed because I just woke up approximately twenty minutes ago. Usually I would be enjoying the warmth and darkness of my room, which has no windows making it a fire hazard, but today is different because I just realized I have a crap-load of writing to do. I used a colloquialism and I don't care... Anyways, I have that 2,000 word court case essay due for composition, a 500 to 550 word column due for the newspaper, and my mom is counting on me to finish some essays for college applications. Some people will probably tell me that I should have planned my time better over this four day weekend and completed or worked on some of the essays earlier, but I did not feel like it. Instead, I went to basketball practices, watched football, ate turkey and cheesecake, and slept. I apologize to anyone who thinks I procrastinated, but I deeply needed the rest and relaxation. Although the court case essay will be extremely boring to write, especially because it is an extremely boring concept in the first place, the other things I need to write will not be as difficult because I actually enjoy writing about what the prompts are. For the essay, I am going to talk about the endurance, will-power, and mental strength needed to camp out all night in sub-freezing temperatures in order to get a computer, television, and printer from Best Buy. I know some friends who participated in the festivities and I think this would be an interesting article, even though it has little if anything to do with sports. However, I know I can find a way to tie the aspect of sports into the column, so it should turn out to be a pretty tubular piece. My college application essays (Hope College and Wittenberg University) should be fairly easy as well. Hope's essay asks me to write about someone who has affected my life in a positive manner. I did not have to think long about this before I thought of my step-grandfather, Peer Baekgaard. A Danish immigrant, Peer was part of a small Danish army called the Danish Underground in World War II. However, he was taken prisoner of war by the Nazis at the age of seventeen. On his way to the concentration camp, Peer was able to write a note to his mother and slip it through the floorboards of the boxcar he was riding in, hoping it would one day reach his mother. At the concentration camp, he met many friends while only living off bread, butter, and soup every day. During one point of his stay in the prisoner of war camp, he was sentenced to be executed. However, the shelter which was holding all the papers for the prisoners was bombed by the British, eliminating Peer's papers. The camp officials no longer knew if Peer was sentenced to live or die, so his life was spared. One day, he woke to find that the camp gates were open. Not knowing if this was a sick prank being pulled by the Nazis, Peer and some fellow inmates fled the camp during nightfall. As they tried to walk back to Danmark, Peer and his companions hid during the day and travelled on foot during the nights. Little did they know that the open gates signaled the end of World War II. They made it home safely and Peer found that his mother had received his letter from the boxcar after all. When Peer was older, he immigrated to the United States. In New York City, he walked into the toy store FAO Schwartz and sold the store a dozen wooden boats he had made, which effectively started his imported gifts business that he named Baekgaard, Ltd. To this day, Baekgaard, Ltd. still sells men's and women's gifts. My grandma, Barbara Baekgaard, is one of the primary shareholders in the company, along with being the primary shareholder in Vera Bradley. I think it is amazing to see Peer's legacy live on to this day, even though he passed away July 21, 2007.