<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><entry xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13524368.post-995208894918592578</id><published>2009-03-22T14:26:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-03-22T14:31:12.511-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='university'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='birthday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='school'/><title type='text'>Tomorrow, I will be an adult. To put it mildly; frigging HELL.</title><content type='html'>For a long time now, ever since last year, I've been saying that I'm freaking out about turning eighteen. And it was true, to a certain extent.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But, just now, I actually said it to myself. &lt;em&gt;Tomorrow, I will be able to say, 'I am eighteen years old.'&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And, for the first time, my stomach gave a huge lurch and I felt absolutely astounded by something that I've known for months, and years before this point. Now that it's imminent, it's...well, is it scaring me? I can't really tell.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I know that, tomorrow, I won't wake up feeling any different. The only things that will change will be official facts, records, rights and so on; things that I can't see. Yet, the roundness of the number, the status of it, the weird &lt;em&gt;finality&lt;/em&gt; of it, despite the fact I'll be beginning a whole new life relatively soon; it shakes me up. In a good way, I think.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This will be my last birthday at home, and at school; this time next year (ack, I'll be &lt;em&gt;nineteen&lt;/em&gt;! Jesus Christ), I'll be living in a whole new place, with entirely new people, celebrating, probably, in an entirely new way. I'll have different habits and friends and living space (and, I expect, hobbies). It's &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; thought, I think, which is weighing on my mind so much, and the thought which must weigh on a million minds that are the same age as me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A new life. Not entirely seperate from the one I have now, but pretty damn different. I can't wait, of course I can't wait. But I have an urge to embrace my eighteenth birthday while I can, because by next year, everything that I'm used to will have been uprooted. No, actually, not &lt;em&gt;uprooted&lt;/em&gt;, because that implies that it's being forced away from me against my will. Altered, maybe. Shifted away from the norm. Whatever it is, or will be, it'll be different.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I don't feel like an adult; not yet. I shouldn't, really; I'm still dependent on my parents for a huge amount, and even when I start uni I won't be fully capable of forging my own way financially. Wish I &lt;em&gt;could&lt;/em&gt;, but practically, it's not possible. Unless we win the lottery.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yet, tomorrow, while I'm (hopefully) having fun and larking around, I'll be aware of the odd knowledge that, in every official capacity, I'm an adult. I can drink, vote, have a child, get married (bloody&lt;em&gt; hell&lt;/em&gt;), buy what I want, etc, etc. Obviously, I'm unlikely to &lt;em&gt;leap&lt;/em&gt; on these opportunities just because they're suddenly available (you won't catch me getting married, for instance; nor binge drinking or buying cigarettes), but it strikes me as ridiculous that I'll be an &lt;em&gt;adult&lt;/em&gt;. A grown-up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yep, there was that stomach leap again. Sleeping tonight is going to be a prolonged experience; I can tell.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;ANYWAY. I shouldn't waste time feeling scared by the natural progression of time. Tomorrow should be fun; providing the nice weather holds out, we'll all be venturing out onto the field at lunchtime for a birthday picnic. My friend Ben's promised to make a cake (with no prompting or expectations from me at all - he's lovely!), and later on, I'll join most of Year thirteen for an impromptu dance-off at our local shopping centre. Long story; don't ask. I'll tell tomorrow, if it works out!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Right, have to go. Will definitely post about birthday-times.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Back when I'm an adult!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13524368-995208894918592578?l=grapegirl.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://grapegirl.blogspot.com/feeds/995208894918592578/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13524368&amp;postID=995208894918592578' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13524368/posts/default/995208894918592578'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13524368/posts/default/995208894918592578'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://grapegirl.blogspot.com/2009/03/tomorrow-i-will-be-adult-to-put-it.html' title='Tomorrow, I will be an adult. To put it mildly; frigging HELL.'/><author><name>Rosby</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09209798727950535231</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='05365882299552649628'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>3</thr:total></entry>