As I begin my fourth decade on this earth, I feel like I should do a little VH1-style wrapup of the past 10 years. I�ll just touch on the highlights and particularly scandalous moments (which is all I remember anyway).

20

Got stranded for a week at my boyfriend�s college after deciding to stay an extra night and waking up to 36 inches of snow. Ended up broken-hearted after that boyfriend (my first true love) and I decided to call it quits in March. My mother had a pulmonary embolism that spring and nearly died. Spent the summer at my telephone company job answering to a sexist boss. Moved in to a condo with my best friend and two very strange girls in fall. Took up with a gay man who professed to have romantic feelings for me. Volunteered at a battered women�s shelter. Got mono.

21

Continued living with freaks, including my roommate�s 16-year-old sister who moved in when the roomy went abroad to Russia for a quarter. Did a double-hitter spring break, to Chicago and Orlando. Met man (Ax) who would become my first long-term boyfriend and love. Interned at a woodworking magazine in Cincinnati during one of the hottest summers on record. Freelanced for a regional magazine and did an internship with them over the holidays. Moved into a house with gay friend and crazy other friend; became neighborhood YMCA for anybody they wanted to invite to live there. Continued dating Ax long-distance after he graduated, enduring long-ass commute to Columbus every other weekend.

22

Endured crazy roommates, including gay friend�s boyfriend, a film grad student, whose thesis was a movie about gangster drag queens and who used our house as his filming HQ. Bought my first real computer, a Mac Performa 6300CD. Went to San Francisco for a job interview and vacation over spring break. Wrote a 40-page-paper about a trade magazine and interviewed with that magazine�s publishing company. Got a job. Graduated. Moved to suburban Philadelphia. Cried a lot. Broke up with Ax. Took up with crazy guy from Quebec as my rebound relationship. Regretted it almost immediately.

23

Finally rid myself of crazy Quebecois and changed locks. Learned a lot. Traveled to Japan and China for three weeks on a business trip. Quit my job to join the startup company that my managers left to start. Worked from home most of the winter. Traveled to London.

24

Published our first issue of the startup company. Built company Web site. Traveled a lot domestically. Worked my ass off. Started doing online dating and dated a medical student, a linguist, and a former marbles world champion.

25

Moved into a townhouse with my friend and a guy named Bubba (that�s actually true). Endured horrible commute and horrible Bubba. Bought first car. Met Slacker Musician Ex (SME, then just SM) after standing for 2 hours in the rain waiting for him to show up for our first date. Fell for him anyway. Began long-ass commute to the Jersey Shore every other weekend. Traveled to Thailand. Moved into my own apartment, a crappy two-room place with a ceiling that gushed water every time my upstairs neighbor took a shower, Began having hankerings for California and started looking for jobs online.

26

SME moved to San Diego. Went out to visit him and scored an interview in Silicon Valley the same week�flew up for the day to interview with the Dot-Bomb. Got the job. Quit the magazine, drove cross country with SME, found an apartment in three days, started new job. Accepted the offer to write a book for The Publisher. Broke it off officially with SME. Began getting severe tension headaches (gee, I wonder why). Met A. online and started dating him, beginning long-ass commute to Oakland every other weekend (detecting a pattern here?). Got laid off from the Dot-Bomb. Got new job, but immediately got moved out of department when department fell to pieces.

27

Worked at new job. Tried to like it. Moved in with A. Commuted a lot every day, and drove to East Bay a lot on weekends. Finished up book. Stressed out over elderly neighbor. Got a bunch of anxiety attacks and kept having headaches. Went to see doctors, chiropractors, dentists, and massage therapists. Began hating my job. September 11 happened. Went home a couple of times to be near my family.

28

Still hated job.

Started this diary as a place to vent about job. Freaked out about job a lot. Hated my crazy neighbors. Did a lot of job searching. Traveled to New York City and Philly for vacation. Got engaged. Organized and put on my high school reunion. Began planning wedding. Interviewed for job at Big Corporation. Got job and quit other job. Got pulled into massive top-secret project that consumed many nights and weekends. Spent first Christmas in California.

29

Finished top-secret project and began another crazy project. Started seeing therapist to learn relaxation techniques. Continued planning wedding and working a lot. Got married and went to Maui for honeymoon. Tried to adopt a dog and then had to give him back. Signed on to write another book. Traveled to Ohio for 9 days at the holidays.

And now ... here I am. Interesting, as I look back over this, how the one year I didn't have 50 major life events was the year I experienced all the anxiety and stress symptoms. I feel like I'm beginning my 30s with a good head on my shoulders, a lot of learnings, and some pretty damn good stories to tell.