Hi everybody! It's been too long since I last visited DA and spent some quality time here. I really have missed talking to you, collecting and commenting on your Dev's. I know I have a lot to catch up on and I promise that I will try. A lot has been going on in my corner of the world (probably too much to fit and/or too much that you could possibly read without eye strain, ). Hopefully those who read this won't fall asleep on me, but I won't blame you if you do!



Were fantastic! I think I may have had the very best Christmas that I have ever had. All the presents were really thoughtful for and from everybody and the day was just great.

On the 30th of December however I walked out on my job. I literally walked in in uniform, handed back my shop keys, name badge and discount cards and said goodbye. I'd been putting up with too much workplace harassment for way too long. It was all stupid, petty crap that no employee should have to deal with on a day to day basis. My health and even my relationship with those close to me was being torn apart and I had had enough (the whole story I'll save for another journal entry). So goodbye to retail hell and hello to the unemployment line ( for now!). It's not how I wanted to end my three year run with the company, but what can you do?

My New Year's was great after that. Knowing that you no longer have to drag your feet to a badly managed business for the start of your New Year is a good feeling. Sleeping in without having to fear the telephone ringing and your boss grumping at you for something that they should be able to handle themselves (and I really did fear it) is a good feeling too...

I owe a lot of thanks to my family and friends, the employees that were loyal to me (and still are), and my amazing boyfriend Michael for everything good in my life at the moment. Without them all I would be an empty shell.

Ironically my old boss set Michael and I up weeks ago. The details of which are a little foggy due to the fact that there was alcohol involved (not on my part, I don't drink ) and I'm not sure exactly what messages were sent between mobile phones but in the end it was one staff party that turned out nicely instead of the other way around. I got an interesting text message from Michael on my way home (which I still have, ) and after coffee the next day we were inseparable. We're a good fit; I don't think I've met anyone who has so much in common with me. Sometimes it's a little freaky, especially when we both say the same thing at the same time, . But it just adds to the fun of it all.

But really, he's smart, handsome, driven, caring, understanding, sensitive, loveable and just... well... perfect. Michael's a big part of the reason that I left the aforementioned job and I couldn't be more thankful for it. Without him I think I would have kept backing out. Michael is my rock. I'm 100% certain that I put him through absolute torture before I quit, and definitely a few times after () but he's never been phased and that just makes me love him more.

We're going on a short holiday tomorrow to escape the horrors of our work and job-hunting and I can't wait. It'll be nice to get away for a while.



It's pretty boring I know. But I just finished watching "Divide and Conquer" and couldn't help myself. So your thoughts would be nice. Let me know if you can read the text without having to squint.

Since DA's made some nice changes to the profiles since I was last here I've taken out a lot of stuff from my journal that can now be found on the right (friends and watchers mainly). Liking the new profile design too!

Well, I think I've ranted enough... no, actually that's not true. I would love nothing more than to type pages and pages right now but it would just be stupid of me. So I'll drag my fingers away from my keyboard long enough to press "update journal" and leave you all to rest your eyes, .

Abby.