"Well, you've still got a year," says my mother of college.

Um... I'd love to believe that, but the truth is, I don't. I'm not worrying about the actual GOING to college. I think I will be able to deal with being away from my family and making new friends.
What I'm currently flipping out about is getting into college. I'm taking the SAT again, and the SAT IIs. Both need to be studied for. I have to keep my grades up, I have to narrow down where I want to go, apply everywhere, write essays, fill out forms, do service hours (OMG CAS... & NHS), and I have to write an extended essay. But what I don't have is a year to do that all in. I have some months. Three months before early app (if I do it) five months before regular decision.
Brunel kindly sent me a letter today which outlined that they were glad I'd come to their open day, and they hoped I was thinking about their school. Then the admissions councilor signed off, but not without dropping the little bomb that I can apply for schools in the UK starting September 1st.

::Coughs politely:: "Yeah, I've still got a year."

Coon Bi is the hub of all crazy people in the Twin Cities. This includes, but is not limited to, those who use public transportation. I've been walking to the bus every couple of days, and I can't make it the whole six blocks to the stop without some random man (or two, or three) honking at me. I'm fairly certain this isn't caused by me suddenly becoming 900x more attractive, but perhaps because of midday beer goggles or (more likely) crazy goggles.
Another distinct category of crazies are the men on the bus who think it's cool to ingage in conversation with me. Yes, I am trying to read my book. Yes, it's good. Yes, it's interesting. Boy, but you ask nice questions. Yes, I would prefer if you'd stop talking to me.
But my favorite are the ladies. I have attracted: one crazily racist woman who spoke at me about certain races being below others, and banks where they hire the wrong sorts of people; one crazy woman who ranted about bodies being driven past the bus in cars (?) she spoke quietly, so I may have misheard; and one woman in tradtional Islamic dress who (in a bus with three people in it) decided to move from her seat next to no one, to the seat next to me, and proceeded to lean on me.

The Killers rocked. Louis XIV (the opening act) did not. Having to wait forever did not. But The Killers were amazing. I screamed my lungs out and sang along with all the songs I knew. It was delicious, unlike the watered-down Coke I bought. Brandon Flowers was adorable. The band was great. The drummer (whatever his name is...) is even more impressive in person.
It was my first real concert, so that might have added to the excitement, but it was still amazing.
And then we went out to Perkins and had food! We spoke to our amazing server, Dan. He told us about Blink 182. We wrote him a note in ketchup before we left.
I slept over at Alex's and Rainy decided that she doesn't like being petted. No one knows why...
I had Wheat Thins and Skippy for brunch, and then we watched My Super Sweet Sixteen.
A momentous day (and occasion) for the homeschooler, lol.

My braces are gone, and I'm discovering that I hate retainers almost as much as I hated braces.
For one thing, retainers hurt when you first get them on. Ok, so do braces. But braces don't make you nauseous or give you headaches. Retainers can.
For another, they suck when you want to eat. You have to find this huge ugly plastic case (which doesn't fit into a pocket) and take out the retainers, which are all spitty and NASTY and put them into it. Braces stay glued on your teeth and out of the way.
For a third, they take extra cleaning. Certainly, you have to brush well with braces. But you don't have to change the my-toothbrush-is-in-my-mouth routine. With the retainers, you do that and then you brush the plastic torture device as well. And once a week you have to Efferdent them. Ew. Efferdent is for old people with dentures. I have none of those.
And last but not least, they pick up smells. Generally it's based on what you eat, but right now mine smell exactly like wet dog. And you can bet I haven't been eating any of those. Probably it's just a little reminder from the world that I shouldn't smell my retainers before I put them back into my mouth. But still, ew.