David Bowie's "Changes"

Some changes and pretty freaky stuff's been going on here lately..............

Sis is home from spring break. Speaking of spring, there's snow outside. WTF? Anyway- sis and I are developing more of a "fellow college student" relationship now, and it's a different pace than before. And I think I like that. I like her friends, especially Jared and Mark. They treat me like one of them, not like a snot-nosed Senior that thinks he knows it all. I really just can't wait for Purdue. From here, it looks like the magical cure-all, especially for the dating scene (more on that later).

Bradley has a girlfriend. Can't really get over that. He's also becoming a programmer under my nose (learning HTML and whatnot). It's like he's growing up or something.

My parents are still............odd. And fighty. One of my parents trusts me completely, but it feels like the other doesn't trust me at all. I'm, what, 2 months from being 18? A soloed pilot? Half a year from college?

I've come to the dawning realization that Jason Collett is my best friend. Ever. No matter what. And it doesn't matter if we've only seen each other a few days in the past year. It doesn't matter. We don't have to hang out 24/7. A month passes, we go to the movies (Hidalgo)...........and it's like we just pick up where we left out. w00t. I also learned that there's many, many more layers to that simple Mormon than meets the eye. Makes sense........he's certainly got the room for more layers. (Note to self- listen to best friends when they tell you to do stuff [Read: post-secondary, no SEAP]).

Speaking of the SEAP, it blows. Still don't understand it's real purpose. Regardless, I'm on Conway's S-list for not doing a lot with it. :::shrug::: Seems that post-surgery Ryan really has other priorities. The remnants of pre-surgery Ryan are going crazy with that notion, but are kept in check by the massive doses of R&R given like medicine by the aforementioned Ryan.

I also learned that sometimes I make waaaay too big a deal over this back brace of mine. Other times, it's a wonder I don't mention it. It affects others differently- some people don't see it, they just see me. Others make fun of it, which is what I'm afraid of. My foot is feeling better, but they still want me to take an EMG (more on that later). It's still a stretch to go a full day of real world stuff without being completely worn out.

Kuzma tells me that school is changing too. The district is narrowing down the choices of AP classes to small school. I thought they weren't allowed to do that. It would mean that MaST students couldn't take AP Statistics because it's a BATS school. That seems stupid to me, Ms. Kuzma is one of my best teachers and I think AP Stats is a great class. With only BATS students, though, it'd be too small (3 kids). WTF is going on here?

Being in Science Olympiad and Science Challenge this year reminds me of last year- the victories (Olmpiad, 1st of 75, 14009), the defeats (Bowl), blaring "We are the Champions" in my car (Challenge), the feeling of accomplishment on stage (a judge told me she'd "never seen anybody smile that much"). Maybe I'm soothing my own hurt ego after not winning anything at Sci Olympiad this year. Most likely. Regardless, all of these memories come back with a twinge of bittersweet- all the fun stuff last year's seniors did in the science competitions, and how much I didn't realize I noticed and subsequently miss.

Another bittersweet memory- this time last year, I also started dating Kristen. Can't say I don't miss that, or her, to some extent. I've been in a transitional state as of late. Not quite high school, not quite college, not quite fully healed, not quite sick/broken, not quite independent, not quite helpless, not quite a pilot, not quite stuck on the ground, not quite ready for school and work, sick of hanging out around the house a lot, not quite over Kristen, sick of moping, not quite grown-up, not quite a teenager. I dunno. Been toying around with growing out my hair and sideburns, but lost the mustache (gotta wait 'till it grows in more, Freddie-style). Sick of the same hair from 3rd grade, but Sis tells me I look like a 70's sleazebag. :::shrug:::

Also been toying with asking out *somebody* and/or asking her to prom. Not quite ready to ask (too early?), not quite ready to get rejected or lose her to somebody else. Some/most of my blog readers know her, but that's all I'll tell for now.