To start with, I’ve been very lax in my diary writing duties. Some people are probably angry, but that’s the way it goes. I started feeling too much like I needed a life to have one of these things up, and I don’t have a life. No friends to speak of out here, no relationships to discuss with all of you voyeurs. All in all, it’s been pretty quiet. My life has been thus: work, therapy, the occasional psychiatrist visit, and the occasional bit of family time. Now you know what I’ve been up to.

And don’t think I have any family problems I could be sharing with you all, because I don’t. It’s a nice, if ill-defined, family. The worst thing is that my little sister had a fight with my ex-stepfather and now she doesn’t come around on Wednesday through Friday nights anymore. I wish I could see more of her, but the fight must have been pretty extreme. She hasn’t been here in more than two months. I sure hope that changes before I move back to Portland, because she’s a great kid and I miss her.

Oh, and my ex-stepfather’s girlfriend moved in with us, so now I feel a little like an intruder in this place. They’re all smiles and welcoming, but if you’ve ever spent a lot of time around a “new” couple, you know the feeling I’m refering to.

Anyway, that covers how my life has gone, barring the occasional visit from friends from Portland (It’s convenient that I wound up with so many friends who come from this town and now live in Portland. If not for the friends with family in this area I’d never see any friends). So, as you can see, there hasn’t been a lot to write about, and hopefully you can forgive me for not keeping this journal up-to-date.

I’ve started smoking, again. It was actually a while ago that I started up again, but if I had to place a complaint about how successful this year has been, I’d have to say that smoking again ranks as one of my biggest failures. That and my new addiction to DIET Mountain Dew. I stopped drinking Mountain Dew because I’d already ruined my teeth with it and I was hoping to keep the salvaged teeth my dentist has been working so hard on. Then, as my need for caffeine increased, I started drinking the diet stuff in the hopes it was better for my teeth. As it turns out, my dentist says it’s not much better for my teeth, and now I have an addiction to it that rivals my original Mountain Dew habit. *sigh* I may have avoided any truly horrible addictions, but don’t let it be said that I don’t have an addictive personality.

On the good side of this year, I happen to think my therapy is coming along nicely. I’m getting a tenuous grasp on my self-esteem issues, and anyone who has met me can say, “that’s a good thing.” It’s slow in coming, however, but since the habits took a lifetime to develop I should be pleased that I’m getting a start on them. And I AM pleased. :)

Also on the plus side, I must say it’s been very nice seeing as much of my family as I have. I really missed them the entire time I was out in Portland. My damn little sister really grew up without me. She’s a real person now, looking at colleges and everything. It’s amazing. My brother is getting along fairly well, too, and it’s been a lot of fun being able to go see movies with him, rather than just talking about them after the fact. And my mom . . . well, she’s my mom and I must admit I love her a lot. She’s a very cool person, and I’m privileged to come from such genes. Trust me, her half almost entirely makes up for my father’s half of my gene pool. Then, finally, there’s my ex-stepfather. He takes some getting used to, but overall he’s a good guy. I get along with him well enough, and we haven’t had any big blow-ups (unlike my sister, unfortunately), so as a roommate he’s just about perfect. Especially since he pays most of the bills. ;)

I can’t say it’s been all fun and games, but I still think the Light side is pulling ahead in the race this year. And that’s a very good thing.