In 2008 I:

*Started believing in FA “for real”, stopped dieting, threw out my scales, and converted my sister, thus ending a ~10-year stretch of disordered eating and hating my body (thanks to SP)
*Became a feminist (also thanks to SP)
*Started to realise that academia is not the be-all and end-all of who I am as a person
*Spent a ridiculously tough 3 months as a 24-hour stage manager and camp counsellor and discovered I’m capable of a lot more than I had thought
*Went to New York! Saw Broadway shows! Fell in love with [tos]
*Started seriously thinking about finding a career that’s right for me rather than one that’s on my arbitrary list of Societally Approved Career Choices
*Learned to knit!
*Started planning my round-the-world trip in ‘10
*Found not one but two women who like me exactly as I am. They happen to be in a LTR with each other. So also, got confirmation that I am a little bit poly. Heh.
*Started thinking seriously about the ADD and whether I want to get it diagnosed and just deal with whatever stigma exists (whether for real or in my head), because, as bellacoker put it, trying harder just isn’t cutting it anymore.
*Finally got some counselling for the trauma my family have/are putting me through. Realised I coped with it so much better than I had any reason to. Got proud of me for surviving.

Essentially, this was the year I became a person, and started embracing & liking me for exactly who I am instead of constantly criticising myself for who I’m not. I loved it. More of the same please.

My RA introduced me to FA via Manolo for the Big Girl

I learned to embroider: I find it soothing, except when I get obsessive about perfect stitches.

I became a mother :-)

Which is a totally amazing thing, particularly considering that this 35 year old had never even had a relationship until she was 34, so meeting wonderful husband and getting engaged and married made 2007 all kinds of wonderful.

I got pregnant in February, and our son was born in October. March to September were basically total hell. Although the pregnancy progressed totally normally, thankfully, and our little one is healthy and gorgeous as can be, my body REALLY did not like being pregnant. Six months of throwing up and constant nausea… just awful.

So, the experience was awful, but the result was amazing. Having fought and loathed my body for so much of my life, to see it produce this new perfect little guy was incredible.

I am now trying to deal emotionally with the extra 20 pounds the pregnancy left me with and not let it get me down. It’s hard because after years of yoyoing I had spent the last four years at a consistent weight and got used to that ‘me’. I have had a couple of meltdowns and depressed days but I am trying to focus on the good. I have bought lots of cute clothes to wear *now* and have put away my cute clothes from before until they fit me again (if they ever do) – but I am just eating healthy and will see what happens, and am reminding myself that I am still gorgeous with those extra pounds.

And I have a son!

Personally, I’m very excited.

Thanks for the cheese advice – I’ll certainly give abstinance a try. Living in a small Australian town, the problem isn’t so much choosing between brands, but finding anything at all (besides blank stares). The farmers’ market here does have a good vegetarian kimchi, though.

Does anyone else have a dog who’s tail wags when they get a hug?

Not, but my cat does… before he claws a whole through the closest object (usually me) to escape.

Thank y’all!!

I also got a passport and visited my friend in Bavaria, after about six years of just meeting him around the States. The furthest I’d been before was Canada. That was so much fun I think I should do it again.