2004-02-06 - 4:07 p.m.

I've said it before, but I am truly ashamed that it's been so long since I've updated. While I have been sorely remiss at writing, I have done a bang-up job of being a lurker and keeping up with all my favorite diaries. So much has happened, I just don't know where to start. I guess I'll begin with the basics and then maybe fill in detail later.

C and I bought a house, which we closed on and moved into last Friday. His 14-year-old daughter also lives with us and there's a spare bedroom that his sons can sleep in when they visit that we also use as our computer room. We really love the house - 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, and almost 3/4 of an acre of land in a very nice suburb.

I'm slowly getting used to my commute and we've been discovering stores, restaurants, bars and the like. Considering it's only been a week, we're settled in fairly well. It's all an adjustment for all of us and the past week has certainly had its ups and downs but all-in-all I'm very happy.

The wedding is less than six months away and we're really excited about it and planning has not been too bad (yet). I think it's going to be a really fun time - we're getting married on the beach and having a tent reception right on the water at a resort that is surrounded on 3 sides by the Atlantic Ocean. I just want everyone to have a nice, relaxing weekend.

In some ways I feel like a completely different person than I was even a year ago. My life has certainly changed - I'm no longer only responsible to and for myself. I can no longer just do whatever the hell I want, whenever I want and I kind of like that. I certainly enjoy having a man that I love to come home to. I have some adjustments to take care of as far as step-parenting but I'm making progress. I definitely feel much, much happier but I also feel like I've opened up so much more and that I'm a better person for all of this. I'm a work-in-progress, that's for sure.

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