21.

I just turned 21. On Friday, my friends and I (16 of us!) gathered at Olive Garden to celebrate. I had a wonderful time and the cake was delicious!

I received some of the most wonderful birthday presents I've ever gotten, including:
Poetry books (Mary Oliver, Hebrew poetry, 25 Modern Poets collection).
Loose leaf tea and a darling mug.
Gladiator sandals.
Keds from the Wise family.
Flowers.
a Disney Princess Halloween card.
a cat "piggy" bank.
a Punjabi folk instrument.
a Snuggie.
a check from the grandparents (I used this to buy a bag and a cute belt).
Jenny came to visit me!

I have so many wonderful friends and family members. It's times like these that make me realize how thankful I should be each and every day.

Time for a life update.

I survived three week of school so far. I have a lot of work to do; it's all piling up, waiting for my procrastination to settle into a drive steered by anxiety.

I am engaged to my Daniel. It's still surreal, something you think about as a life stage for the bulk of your childhood and adolescence, but once it's real, it's somehow normal, somehow not so dramatic. I love him and I'm thankful for the settled, peaceful feeling I have when I think about our engagement and our future life, side by side.

I have so much to be thankful for. And I'm glad God is helping me see that. Great friendships, relationships, interactions with classmates and teachers. Interesting subject matter. Fellowship opportunities, intellectual opportunities. Health, financial stability, a beautiful campus. And Fall is coming soon. Oh, how I long for Fall. It's my favorite time of year. More than any other season, it connects me to this season in the past years of my life, it fills me with this inexplicable joy, as if I'm awaiting something glorious.

Real Summer.

This is real summer, when you
can smell the pungent fragrance of
cologne and sweat, deodorant
melting off of showered skin.

This is late summer, and the
warm breeze stirs your memory with
thoughts of Fall, but fall is far
away for north Florida.

This is still Summer, even though
we call this Fall semester, and moisture
rests in that space between your back
and the books you carry there.

And you dream of summer, of the
ones that came and went, of high
school anxieties and rain drenched
clothing, coming home late in the afternoon.

This is real, this summer, and you
know that your hope and early fall
luck will be remembered, and stirred
again, when the Sun is high

And the season, Summer,
perspires into Fall.

Well stated.

Does absolutely everything have to be viewed through a partisan lens? Even if Obama were to be so foolish as to try and pitch his ideas on fiscal policy to fifth-graders – which would turn them into Republicans for sure – do we really want our kids sheltered from ideas with which they may disagree? How are they to stand up to opposing views if they haven't even heard them? - Melinda Henneberger

Full article here.

Please note that I'm not making a specific political statement. I do think, however, that Henneberger's questions (in bold) are worth thinking about. We fear so much that the young and impressionable will hear and internalize what, in our opinions, are incorrect mentalities that we don't give them the chance to develop a grounds for their own beliefs.