I am Valerie's granddaughter
The spitting image of my father
And when the day is done my mom is still my biggest fan
Sometimes I'm clueless and I'm clumsy
But I've got friends that love me
It's all a part of me, and that's who I am.

-Adapted to fit my life from the song "Who I Am" by Jessica Andrews

I'm Judy. I'm 28 years old, I'm straight, (and single) and I live in the San Francisco Bay Area in a condo I share with a roommate that for the most part I never see. I used to work full time at a job I love. Now I just work full time. I am not as close to my family (which consists of my parents and my older sister) as I would like to be, but I don't foresee that changing anytime soon, as this is how it's always been. My sister and I have actually gotten closer since she got engaged- helping with her wedding and all. And her husband has become the brother I always wanted.

I grew up in a small town, and while I don't consider myself to be a small-town girl, I'm not a city girl either. I went to school with the same people almost all my life, some since preschool. My best friend Erica and I met when I was in third grade (she was in second) and we have been best friends ever since. (that's 18 years folks). You know that saying "Nothing to do in a small town except drink, do drugs and have sex? Well, that was pretty much my town, and if you didn't do any of those things you really didn't have anything to do. My friends and I fell into the second category. Well, I did at least.

I have two other best friends. I know that best implies only one, but I couldn't choose between the three of them for whom I loved most, because they all became important to me at different times in my life. And while Erica will be my maid of honor if I ever get married, Tara and Val will be right up there next to her. My friends are my world, and I love them more than just about anything, and would not hesitate to sacrifice myself to save any of them. My friends are closer than my family in a lot of ways. That bugs my mom, but I can't help it. They are the ones I am closest to, that I can let down my walls around, with whom I can just be hurt or weak or vulnerable, and most of them can do that with me too.

Someday I want to get married, be a wife, a mother, a grandmother ...I think... But for now I just want to live my life. And try to figure out this woman I am becoming. That is a lot of why I write. Things happen to me, occur to me, appeal to me... and I feel a need to share them. Sometimes to inspire, sometimes to get a laugh, sometimes to just get it out of me so it will stop swimming around in my head. I love comments, email, gifts, flowers, money... Whatever you feel like throwing my way.

Judy January 12, 2004
7:45 PM
cozy house,
barefoot but still in work clothes,
cat keeping my toes warm.