*Last year at this time, my dear friends Joe and Nichole threw me the best birthday party ever. I really felt a renewed connection to them. They helped me through my rough post-dumping period (eww dump and period in one sentence).

*I finally finalized my decision to go back to school to pursue a career in forensic science. I have read many a gorey book on the subject and it continues to be something I talk about all the time.

*I moved in with my friend Leah. I am an independent woman. Sort of. I actually walk to places in Detroit. I used to be afraid of driving in Detroit. Now we mosey on down to the Bronx like it was nothing...because it really is nothing.

*I met my first internet friend. This is not as freaky as it sounds, but it was completely out of my realm of consciousness. It happened so suddenly. I was participating in LBFCA's messageboard and I had put my diary up as my homepage. I get an e-mail from Marie asking me all about my diary and how she has one and wants advice on it. A week later I'm asking if I can add her to my buddy list. She says yeah and the first time we have a conversation it lasts four hours. I should have known then that this girl was my long lost Soul Sistah. We've created new online terms to speed up our conversations. And here's the coolest part. One month after talking on AIM, we met up in Cleveland for the American Idol Concert! I was not disappointed in the least when I met her and I have a feeling that we will be friends for a long time to come.

*I found Clay! This all began when I pressured my dad into watching American Idol with me. "Dad, you'll love it! There's music! You love music!" Well, we did start watching it together, as a daddy/daughter bonding experience before I moved out. Man did we love the bad auditions! We were total bitches about those people, being all incredulous. "Oh my God, didn't their friends tell them that they sucked before they left!?" Well so we're watching the Atlanta auditions, and this total dork comes on and we're so ready for him to suck, and then BLAM! out comes this voice! And my dad and I are like, "Whoa! That guy is great!" My dad dubbed him "That Buddy Holly Guy". We followed him to the finish, and for me my adoration grew secretly until I couldn't take it anymore and on the finale night I didn't hold back my love for the guy. Now it's all about the Clay Love baby!

*I became more happy and accepting of the way I look. This is a giant step for me. Basically my attitude (mostly, sometimes I have fat days) is "I'm not skinny, so what! I figure that feeling bad about how I look neither makes me skinny nor does it make me feel good, so why bother?

Well thanks for taking this retrospective journey with me. I seem to be all about the retro lately...when school comes around I can live in the moment!

Kelly