Had an argument with XXXX, XXXX (cont.) all members on this board.
Got laid. I think that was 2002.
Apart from that I retired, adopted a three legged cat (had four when adopted) visited Europe a few times, and gave up lusting after younger women. Oh, who am I kidding?
One thing I did enjoy doing was being a (very small) activist for those soldiers “Shot At Dawn” after the Great War (SAD) to get pardoned. That was achieved.
Did I mention my three legged cat?
In the 10 or so years I’ve been here, my life has changed beyond recognition.
[ul]
[li]Left my violent alcoholic ex husband[/li][li]Moved in with new love[/li][li]Got married[/li][li]Bought house[/li][li]Travelled to Iceland, Ireland, Hungary, Australia, Canada, Cuba, the US, France, the Netherlands, the Maldives, Singapore[/li][li]Acquired 2 cats[/li][li]Lost one to traffic[/li][li]Acquired 2 more (much later)[/li][li]Lost another to traffic and one to who knows what[/li][li]Acquired Henry the world’s stupidest labrador[/li][li]Lost a baby on 7th July 2005 (UK dopers will probably recognise the date)[/li][li]Had a baby girl on 20th November 2006[/li][li]Started and finished a Bachelor’s degree[/li][li]Started and finished a Master’s degree[/li][li]Designed and built a garden[/li][li]Designed and built a vegetable patch[/li][li]Started tap dancing[/li][li]Killed my knees, stopped tap dancing[/li][li]Rebuilt a kitchen extension[/li][li]Rebuilt a lounge room after flood[/li][li]Rebuilt a staircase after collapse[/li][li]Redecorated whole house twice[/li][li]Changed jobs about 4 times, although company only once[/li][li]Changed cars from Ford Focus, to Mondeo, to Focus (I like Fords)[/li][li]Got pregnant again after 2 1/2 years of trying [/ul][/li]
All in all, went from thoroughly miserable with no hope of improvement to blissful contentment with pretty much everything I could ever wish for - changed out of all recognition indeed!
I started here in August 2003. That seems like a million years ago.
Somehow I’m all grown up now and it’s weird.
Soon to come will be babies, maybe a different job, adventures in home ownership, my green card, and the loss of my grandmothers. I’d better hang on tight!
My 89 VW Fox died
I got a 1993 Escort wagon
The company I worked for went into Chapter 7
I was unemployed for a week(the week I was scheduled to be on vacation, anyways)
I got a new job.
The 93 Escort died
I got a 95 Escort wagon
My beagle died
I got another beagle
My orange cat died
I got a new orange cat
I noticed a trend
My beagle ran away
I got a giant Jack Russell after searching for the beagle for 4 months
The cat ran away
The beagle came back
I had the time and money for hockey season tickets
I resumed having a social life after 10 years.
Joined in 2001. It’s been a roller coaster.
My kids have graduated high school.
Those were stormy times but all is well now, very well indeed.
One kid finished college, got his master’s and has been living in Paris, France, the other is about to graduate from college and also plans to move to Europe for at least a while.
Husband and I moved from Denver, Colorado, to northwest Florida, have gone through one lay-off (and 8 month work-related separation) and are now in northeast Florida.
Had to euthanize my nearest, dearest kitty (she was 20 years old.)
Another pet, a mastiff who had been with us through the move, the lay-off and enforced separation, died very suddenly a little over a year ago.
Now we have two young mastiffs, I have a new job, and we just sort of keep rolling along. We left Colorado looking for change, and we sure got it.
Hm, quite a bit, though I suppose in the scheme of things it’s not much. In no particular order:
[ul]
[li]Dropped out of college[/li][li]Re-enrolled in college[/li][li]GOTO 1[/li][li]Was in three fairly long-term relationships; am thinking that the current one might be my last[/li][li]Parents divorced. Didn’t think it was a big deal at the time, but a few years later, I realized how hard it was on me[/li][li]Got good paying cubicle job. Quit after a few years with no money and no new skills to show for it[/li][li]Ended up broke and unemployed and depressed for a few years[/li][li]Became a self-sustaining, self-employed musician (still poor though!)[/li][li]Changed apartments many times, but am currently in my 5th year at the same address[/li][li]Went to Italy on two occasions with family; one trip involving a short stop in England as well[/li][li]Turned 30[/li][li]Learned to Tapdance[/li][li]Learned to play the accordion[/li][li]Acted on stage a small handful of times[/li][li]Conducted my first (and subsequent) pit orchestra[/li][/ul]
. . . that’s all the big stuff I can think about on one cup of coffee! 
I often think about how, even though there are very few people here I interact with directly (used to be more, but most of my friends from the ‘old’ days have left), this place is in many ways a constant, and I’ve been here for basically all of my adult life. The people change, but the community remains.
I joined in 2002. Since then, I’ve:
Joined in 1999. Here are the big events…
[ul]
[li]Finished undergrad with a film degree[/li][li]Kicked around for a bit doing not much. Moved from Santa Cruz to Oakland[/li][li]Joined Peace Corps, spent two years in Cameroon[/li][li]Stayed with Peace Corps, spent two years in China[/li][li]Entered grad school in DC for an MA in International Development[/li][/ul]
Through this I’ve broken some hearts and got some hearts broken, visited a serious chunk of the world, learned a few languages and matured immeasurably.
It’s been a big decade!
Hmm.
Since early 2003, I’ve (in roughly chronological order):
lost my dad
lost last vestiges of religion and conservatism
lost cats Tuffy, Ugly, Ichabod, Irving, Isaac, Orson, Cosmo, Dickens, and Halley (only one cat–Albert–has survived my stint on the dope)
published a book
gotten promotions
adopted cats Bertram and Cuthbert
done couch-to-5k
lost my husband of 11 years
met someone online
will be selling everything, moving across the country to be with my man, and going back to school
I only joined in October! However, I’ve been a lurker since…I don’t know, 2003 or 2004. If that counts, during that time I:
-turned 16
-had my first serious boyfriend
-decided fashion was my career choice
-graduated from high school
-moved to NYC to go to fashion school
-decided to live in NYC permanently
-had a variety of semi crappy jobs
-lived in a bunch of weird places after my dorm freshman year, i.e. with a lady and her two kids in Coney Island, with a weird guy in Washington Heights, two years in Bed-Stuy with fellow students
Since Sep. 2001:
I quit one of the colleges where I was teaching and focused just on one.
My dad and two uncles and one aunt passed away.
My mom survived breast cancer.
I started working towards a career change.
My niece got married in my back yard.
One of my long-time friends barely talks to me anymore.
I made many, many trips to San Diego, Las Vegas, and other locations in CA and NV.
I started doing yoga and Pilates and water aerobics.
I helped organize faculty at the college that I ended up dumping.
I got some stories published in anthologies.
I began working on assessment essays.
I started freelancing as a print and website text editor.
I’m much more agnostic now.
I’ve sold a ton of stuff on eBay.
I joined about a month ago. 
But for the record, since then I’ve:
It’s been a pretty good month, all told.
Been lurking since the AOL days. I know I posted something then but I have no idea under what name. Since then:
Became a police officer
got married to my longtime girlfriend
had two daughters
bought two houses.
got deployed to Gitmo
got deployed to Iraq
got dumped
lost the house
getting divorced
just the highlights, at least I’m still employed.
Everything but the 1st 3 1/2 happened after my official join date.
Oh and since my join date I went from being a multi-daily SDMBer to very occasional.
I haven’t been on much so if you mentioned it before I missed it. This is fantastic, I am so happy for you.
Oops, it was actually August!
I think people are more willing to share when there have been lots of changes. It’s not very interesting to say “I got fatter and older.” My answer: I got fatter and older. Slightly more serious answer: I finished school, work changed, where I live changed, marital status changed, and a bunch of other stuff that isn’t very exciting.
Thank you. I’m pretty excited about it. I’ll be doing a complete reboot of my life at age 40. Eek! 
I joined in September 2003. Back then, I was living with my mum in Devon, and working as a lowly administrator for a fairly dreadful distance learning company. Since then:
Such an incredible 7 years! And if I hadn’t joined this board none of it would have happened.
Well lets see, I:
was married in 2000 and got divorced in 2002.
took a 5 week motorcycle trip through Europe.
Started swimming again.
Got married again.
Had two daughters.
Getting divorced again.
Cut my long hair.
Bought 4 houses.
Started a job with the Feds in 2000, still have it.
Went from riding my motorcycle 20,000+ miles a year to 1,000 or so.
Lost 30 pounds, gained 40 back.
Went from having 3 cats, first marriage, to one cat who I just had to put down two weeks ago.
The only constant in my life has been the swimming.
Those are pretty much the highlights. At least the ones I can think off.
It’s been an interesting time!
-Got promoted. My pay has increased by what, 60%?
-Got out of debt. Ok, my assets are worth more than my liabilities, so technically I’m solvent, right? In any case, first time in ~20 years.
-Set a new personal record in the half marathon.
-Developed a chronic foot injury. Maybe I can recover, or maybe my running days are over. This never happened before, so I guess I started getting old 
-Broke up with my yoga instructor girlfriend, moped around a few months, though I knew it was doomed.
-Took the oil spill waayyyyy too hard, turned into kind of a drunk, but I’m feeling much better now
-Seemingly incompatibly with the above, began dating a series of out-of-my league women. I don’t know if it is luck or what, but all I had to do this year is pick one and they fell into my arms! Bounced around, found one I get along with, she’s taking a shower right now. My drunk phase killed my yoga practice, but looks like it will start again- today, as soon as she gets out of the shower!
-Visited the Tetons. Always wanted to do that.
-Had money to invest. Actually invested it.
It seems like kind of a lot since April of last year, huh?
Well…
Marriage slowly fell apart.
9/11
Marriage died
Therapy
Started working as a Stage Manager for theatre in NYC
Started directing shows
Laid off
Got in photography
Started writing plays with a partner
Still out of work