100.

It's 10:15, and I've already been up for hours.  I'm already halfway done with my work for the day.  I'm already living.

I'm growing accustomed to the stillness of the morning, the hours before the world awakens and the noise begins.  I love the cool air and the soft light that precedes the sun.  I find great pleasure in the simple fact that I get to see the sun every day, soaking in the small amount of light and warmth it is allowed to release before the clouds roll in and veil it once again before the rest of the city has even opened their eyes.  And most of all, I love that, for perhaps the first time ever, I feel like an adult.  Living on my own, paying my own bills, graduating from college - none of that turned me into an adult, but waking up early every morning, settling into my working world routine, limiting my social activities to the weekends unless they can be finished before 9:00 pm...how very adult of me.  And while there is a significant part of me that already longs for the freedom and unpredictability of my childhood, I am enjoying this new adventure.

In other news, this is my 100th post on this little blog of mine.  I just looked back to see what I was writing a year ago today, and this is what I found.  Funny, isn't it, how much things stay the same, even in the midst of so much change.  And, in light of these things that remain the same in my life, even with the passage of so much time, I'll end with a quote from one of my favorite books:

"it's not love to be static like the desert, nor is it love to roam the world like the wind.  And it's not love to see everything from a distance...Love is the force that transforms and improves the soul." - Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist