Nike, who is so kindly sponsoring all the teams at my school this year, sent us "demo" suits to try on that...er...misrepresented the sizes. Most of the people I've talked to today said they went down a size from their norm because the ones we tried out seemed kind of big.

They're not. They're tiny. And on top of that, the waistline isn't entirely elastic, so it can't quite stretch to get around my lightning thighs. And most of the people I've spoken with are in the same situation.

The first meet is tomorrow, right after school. I'm excited, because it's against Fort Mill and we may win. But not having new suits kind of messes things up...my old suit is starting to wear through on the seat. And mine's in good condition, relatively speaking.

But I'm also excited because I'M A CAPTAIN OF THE TEAM OH YES. This will be a fun season. Because Ryan and I are the boys' captains. Which means that we have certain...influence over the things that happen during practices.

"HEY MOM I'M A TEAM CAPTAIN."

"I know."

I have the best classes this year. It's crazy. My math class is crazy. We get two days out of the week to learn, and then the other 3 days to figure everything out. I feel like I've learned a lot in a week, but it really wasn't much. It's like a class about HOW to think more than WHAT to think. I'm lovin' it.

Then IB English/History, which is just more of the same from last year (nyeahhh...)

Then Lunch, which is nearly as epic as last year (but not really) and Video Productions, which seems rather like a very technical version of Creative Writing 2. I may very well enjoy myself in there.

And last, Chemistry 2, with a crazy and laid-back teacher, a class full of outgoing people like me, and next to Keener. I can make Keener burst into laughter just by looking at her a certain way. And then she makes ME laugh. It's really hard to have a bad day when the last class is so full of joy.

Actually, today, the boy who missed the first week of school came to class and sat right behind me. It made me a bit nervous, but then

He was cool! Haha.

So it's really a simply sublime semester for me. I dunno how I'll manage to handle it. Whee!



Man, Dream Theater plays ridiculously long songs. I got 20 songs recently, and that's probably nearly 3 hours of music. Maybe more.

I'd better start listening.


EDIT: This morning, I went through my normal schedule of snoozing the alarm. 6:30, then 6:39, 6:42, and lastly 6:57. On my last snooze I realized that I still didn't have the motivation to get out of bed, and I wondered what to do about it briefly before my brain stopped recording again. A minute later my ghetto pocket watch beeped and sufficiently jarred my nervous system. I commended it, "Good call, watch," and then laughed at my clock and got out of bed.

It wasn't until I was in the bathroom that I realized that I had just made jest with two time-pieces.

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I know the music isn't much, and is actually a little creepy at some points, but the lyrics of this song describe be much better than I've ever been able to. He's brutally honest about his life, something that I know I have trouble doing even in my own mind...and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

"Playing a lion being led to a cage
I turn from surreal to seclusion
From love to disdain
From belief to delusion
From a thief to a beggar
From a god to 'God save me.'
...
If I seem superhuman,
I have been misunderstood."

That's some hard hitting stuff. I know how easy it is to assume that the people around us have near perfect lives, or sometimes for us to assume that about ourselves. Myself. I have a very loving group of friends, and not a few of them are bold enough to say that they admire me. Frankly, I admire them most of the time, and I feel bad because I know that I tend to act the right way, but only up to a point. And past that point, I'm just like this song.



Practice has been canceled today and tomorrow because a few kids on the team came down with Swine Flu. Fantastic. Also, being a senior is a blast, all my classes have cool teachers, and those strawberry Fruit Singles cups at lunch are absolutely amazing.

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I know that this isn't really funny, but for 5 or 6 immature moments Ryan and I were giggling like small children about the idea of Speedos with Obama's face on the crotch. We were already planning on wearing matching sets since it's our senior swim year; mine green and his read, with the Mario Starman on the crotch and a Goomba's face on the cheeks. It was a small step to put the president's face on the front instead. I thought it would be the ultimate win.

"No, man. That doesn't even cover it. Obama does."

I abruptly choked on the broccoli in my mouth.

But yeah, it's not that funny anymore. I still want to go for the Mario theme. Dunno why.

I always have the most stimulating things to write about, but then I put it off and forget what I wanted to say or how I was gonna say it. And then you're stuck with random stories from my life.

Thursday night was Ryan's birthday party, which didn't let me sleep until...say, 4:30. We were playing Hide and Seek in his neighbors' yards from 12 until we started sampling video games at 3 (Transformers is definitely for small children.)

I had to get up at 9 to make sure my brother got to his Optometrist appointment at 10, even though it was actually at 10:50.

-grumble grumble-

Then swim practice from 3:45 to 5:30 (Butterfly day sucks great balls...I can literally not do a legal 100 yard butterfly, much less a full practice) followed by an hour of dry land (not hard, but no chance for real rest.) That put me at home at 7 PM, with only 4 hours of sleep. And then!

At 11 Ryan's youth group started a lock in...meh. I went, but I didn't stay up all night. Call me a loser. I just didn't have fun. There were a few people who were...less than mature. I seemed to miss out on all the fun, too. Something I'm a little peeved about. Oh, you missed the basketball game! Wow, you should have seen us tape that kid to a wall! Why'd you go to bed so early? (I went to bed around 4:40)

-super loud grumbling-

When I got up yesterday at SEVEN AM (completely uncalled for, FARPY leaders,) drove home at 8:30, and slept til 5:50 ish.

:D :D :D :D

Then I went to bed at 12:30 last night and still managed to sleep a healthy night's sleep before church this morning. Sleep for the win!

Today we welcomed our new freshmen to youth group with silly games and the Wheel of Misfortune. I got to throw Cheeto balls at a girl's face so they'd stick to the shaving cream. And Charlie told us about his crazy grandmother. Good times.

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It took me three tries to click "Publish New Entry" in the drop menu.

Mom got a new mattress for me from one of her friends...it's the first time I've gotten a new one since I can remember. Yes, I have had the same mattress since I was a little kid. I could get in an out of bed without thinking or even waking up, because I was so used to it. I even developed a neat little rolling jump that took almost no effort, put me on my feet, and was completely silent. I've always loved sneaking around my own house.

Of course, this one's about a foot higher than the old one. And it's squishier, so when I roll to support myself on my arms they kind of...sink into it and I just flop to the floor. Things are tense in the bedroom these days.

Managed to get a copy of Hard Times. Now I just have to read it before school starts. I'm doing OK.

I'm also reading ADAM by Ted DeKker and The Best 371 colleges or something.

Oh, yeah. Colleges. My mom's freaking out and it's making me nervous. Doesn't help that I'm aiming at schools like Brown and MIT and also that I'm not completely sure what I even WANT in a school.

-cough-

Clemson is like the creepy kid that I'm trying to avoid. And Winthrop is a joke because I live 10 minutes from there.

Actually, Clemson is my backup plan. I wouldn't feel terrible if I went, and a lot of my friends are there.

Katie made some interesting invitational choices for her get together last night. I had a great time. Oh yeah. I chopped up a fallen tree for firewood with gardening shears and a hand saw. There was a lot of lighter fluid involved.

Today, in youth group:

We said goodbye to our seniors and our summer interns.

We played the most furious game of Bombardment ever. It was ridiculous.

I only got hit with a ball once. But it's three times if you count the ball that bounced off the ground, and the ball that Ben threw and pelted my face off. Neither of those count, though, so it was only once!

I seriously thought I might have a concussion for a moment. Plus my lower face was numb. Bahahaha.

Um...I played with some of the toddlers that the leaders bring with them. One baby laughed at my dancing EVEN THOUGH HIS EYES WERE CLOSED AND HE COULD NOT SEE ME.

I actually have enough white Boys State shirts to wear a different one every school day for a week, if you count my Girls State shirt. And if I use the two grey Athletics shirts, I can hit Saturday and Sunday too. Score.

My internet is giving out over here, so I'm going to cut this short before things get really hairy. Later.

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