As 2008 began, a lot of us made resolutions that we truly hope to keep. Aside from the typical, "I will lose 10 pounds," my resolutions have more to do with my emotional well-being.

I will not put so much pressure on myself.

I will not live by a schedule — I will be less anal retentive.

I will be more aware of the things I say and how they can be interpreted.

I will stop telling people how fat I am and how much weight I gained.

I will continue to think positively and I will continue to be open-minded.

I will be true to myself.

I will take a deep breath when I start to feel anxious and learn to appreciate being single.

I will add more culture to my life and spend less time shopping.

I will learn to stay in on a weekend to unwind and catch up on "me" time rather than partying till all hours of the night.

I will learn to call it a night before 4 a.m. on a weekend.

I will not send drunk text messages to guys.

I will start to save money again.

I will use my divorce as a template for all the things I know I can't live without in a relationship.

I will remember that people are who they are and for the most part will not change.

I will not stress out if someone does not call when they say they will.

I will stop comparing people to Steve and instead focus on what I am looking for.

I will stay positive.

I won't sweat the small stuff.

My friend Sara set me up with her co-worker's friend, Tom. She's never met him before but has been told that he's a great guy — good family, went to a good school, and he's a doctor. However, she saw a picture of him and said he wasn't really my type.

He was given a picture of me and said he'd be interested in being set up. I thought that seeing a picture in advance could lead to pre-judgment and decided that I didn't want to know what he looked like.

We spoke on the phone and had a great conversation and decided to meet for dinner. I'm glad I didn't see a picture. He completely was not my type — light hair, goatee, a bit on the bigger side. We did, however, have a really good time.

After dinner, we decided to grab a few drinks at a bar close by. He was very funny and was extremely nice. He hailed me a cab and offered to drop me off, even though we were around the corner from his apartment and I lived a good 15 minutes away. I thanked him for the offer but told him it wasn't necessary. Instead, he told the cab driver where to take me and handed him money to make sure I got home okay.

About 20 minutes later, he sent me a text to make sure I was home safely.

And here I thought chivalry was almost dead. I was quite impressed.

I had a wonderful evening with Shawn. He picked me up at my apartment before our date with another bottle of wine. He called me earlier in the evening to tell me what time to be ready. I asked where we were going and he responded, "out to dinner." I asked where and he said, "to a restaurant." I hate not knowing. I'm not too picky with food, but definitely have some hang-ups. And I'm also horrible with surprises.

We were late for our reservation because we were just relaxing and talking and not in a rush. It's just easy to talk to him and he thinks I'm hysterical. He gets my quirkiness and the fact that I have no filter with half of the things I say. On our walk to dinner, he commented on how I hate surprises. I'm a work in progress. I know I have to learn to let go. I thought it was sweet that he made an effort since that was one very frustrating aspects of my marriage. I'm not used to someone else making decisions.

We engaged in conversations with the entire staff of the restaurant, and our waiter even invited us to a party. We closed down the restaurant. I'm not used to that either. I was always the talkative one and felt like Steve was always disinterested in life. Shawn definitely shares the spotlight with me. We are both funny and make people feel welcome. It's a quality that I really find so attractive in a guy.

Shawn is not my "type." But the physical qualities, such as a great body and someone who is very tall, are so insignificant when I think of the more important qualities. The small gestures, like bringing over a bottle of wine and picking me up at my apartment, are the things that are making me like him more.

I went out with the girls last night and happened to run into my friend Brad and his wife. I didn’t expect to see them and it was a bit uncomfortable.

I said hello to her but could not fathom being phony so I opted against the fake hug and kiss hello. I was a very good friend to her and my only fault was splitting up with my husband, which had nothing to do with her. You truly learn who your friends are when you need them and I learned that she is not a friend of mine.

I barely even acknowledged Brad’s existence. He was my person. He could sell me a river, he would listen to me when I was going through a rough time and could somehow get me to forgive him every time he disappeared from my life and returned promising that he would always be one of my best friends. His wife and I were friends for many years, but aside from a two-line e-mail telling me that she was there for me if I needed to talk when Brad told her about my divorce, I haven’t heard from her in about seven months.

I’m sure a lot of the distance between Brad and me stems from his wife. Can I blame her for not wanting her husband and me to be so close anymore? Does she know that we were hanging out quite a bit until a few weeks ago? He and I always spent time together, especially since my ex and Brad’s wife are not very into going out. But now that I am single, it’s a different story.

For some reason I always defend him, though. I write him off and then I’ll hear from him, apologizing for not being around. I somehow believe him when he says he’s sorry. There comes a point when saying you’re sorry just isn’t good enough. But am I ready to cut him out of my life? After all, he was one of my best friends.

He's very sweet, very cute and very young. He came into the city last night and we went to dinner. We talked for hours and had a really good time. I learned so much about him and he definitely shared a lot with me.

Some things I wish he didn't tell me. He still lives at home. His grandparents basically raised him and he likes that he is taken care of. Someone makes his bed, does his laundry, cooks for him — it almost felt like I was talking to Tom Hanks' character in the movie Big. I guess we won't be having any sleepovers at his house!

We had a good time together though, and I guess in a way it was refreshing to be out with someone who doesn't have a care in the world. Is it true that innocence is bliss?

He asked me if I was divorced. I assumed one of my family members must have told him but he said no. He said he couldn't understand why I was single and figured that divorce had to be the only explanation. I guess I was flattered.

What I couldn't understand was why he was interested in taking out a 29-year-old divorced woman. I'm not going to overanalyze it though — I am definitely in need of a fun distraction right now.

I was the only single person in the entire room, unless you count a bunch of 13-year-olds. How was I going to get through the day?

The theme of the party was "Day at the Races." The manager of the venue, Dan, was extremely attractive and my mother and I were definitely checking him out. He came over to where we were sitting and gave us fake money to place on the fake horse races. I told him I felt like a fake hooker, which made him laugh.

Throughout the day he kept coming over to talk to me. He told me which horses to bet on and asked me what my lucky numbers were. I said 7 and 11 since that's my birthday. About an hour later, he placed bets for me with those numbers and left them on my table. He was definitely flirting with me.

I had fun schmoozing with him and it definitely made the afternoon go by faster having someone to entertain me. Dan's family owned the restaurant, and one of my family members has known him since he was born. They told me he was a really nice guy and that I should flirt with him! Gotta love family who try to snag you a man!

Dan is 24. A bit young for me, but what did I have to lose? As I was leaving, he pulled me aside and asked for my number, and I gave it to him.

Just call me Mrs. Robinson.

I had dinner a few nights ago with my aunt who lives in the city. She’s 40 and went through a messy divorce a few years ago. She and I had briefly discussed our divorces with each other before, but it was always with other family members around, so our stories were always censored.

It was really fascinating to compare war stories and hear someone else’s perspective about meeting men post-divorce. She had basically done most of the same things I did when Steve first left. She taught me an interesting lesson. No matter what age they are, men are still the same. They’ll say things they think you want to hear and they’ll play the same stupid games. It doesn’t matter if they’re 25, 30, 35 or 40. I guess no matter what age you are, the first few months after divorce are definitely interesting times.

I obviously can’t speak for other people, but she and I basically handled our divorces the same way. We went out, we met guys, and we believed them when they told us we were beautiful. I fell for ridiculous lines. Or maybe I knew they were lines, but justified what I was doing by pretending I believed them, and I used my social life as a way to not think about what I was going through. It definitely worked for me, though.

Looking back, I think I was sleepwalking for the first three months after my separation because everything from that time seems like a blur. I only vaguely remember most of the details, but I am thankful for all of those moments. At the time, they made me feel alive when everything else was falling apart.

Saturday night was a bit more wild, but still drama-free. A bunch of us went out to a friend of a friend's birthday but it got a bit dull and I wanted to leave to meet up with a few friends who came to join me for a bit and then had gone to another bar. Karen was waiting for her crush to arrive and asked me to please stay and be wingman since he was coming with his friend, Paul.

Of course I had to stay since I knew she really wanted to see him and needed someone to entertain his friend. Paul was nice, but definitely not my type. I took one for the team and kept Karen company. The four of us ended up leaving together and went to meet my other friends at a dive bar.

The evening ended up being more fun than I thought it would be. Paul and I hung out and joked that we both were forced to "take one for the team" but surprisingly we started to enjoy each other's company. He talked, we danced, we drank and had fun. Somehow the four of us and my other two friends who seemed to have hit it off as well decided to go back to my apartment at 4 a.m. for more drinks.

We listened to music, drank more and before I knew it, three "couples" were making out in my apartment. It was like an after-prom party! I felt like I was in high school playing "Seven Minutes in Heaven."

By 7 a.m., the party was over and I realized that I'm not 18 anymore. Before Paul left, he took my number and said he wanted to hang out again. He definitely became so much more interesting to me after spending the evening with him. I think the most important thing that I'm learning is not to judge a book by its cover. People can definitely surprise you.

About a year and a half ago, the hedge fund I worked at shut down. I worked with the same group of people for three and a half years, and they became almost like a second family.

They were there for all of the changes that occurred in my life, from Steve and I moving in together, to getting engaged and finally to planning my wedding. During those years, I experienced so many things, and they were witness to the majority of them.

Although we don’t work together anymore, we all meet for Happy Hour every six months to catch up, keep in touch and stay connected to each other. Prior to our most recent get-together, I was dreading the question I knew they would all ask: “When are you and Steve planning to have children?” For most people, that question isn't the most appropriate, but it seems that people ask it regardless — especially people that you have worked with for such a prolonged period of time.

I arrived at the bar a bit late, since I got stuck at work, and was a bit relieved that the gossip train had already made it’s way there. I was spared the question, but was asked many more, since they had basically been there for the majority of my relationship with Steve.

They wanted to know what happened, whether I was okay, whether Steve had cheated. They were questions that I really hadn’t had to answer in months, since the people that I surround myself with all know the answers. I felt like I was on the witness stand, but I knew that they were just making sure that I was holding up well.

I’m happy that I am a survivor and am able to take these things in stride. And most importantly, I am happy for my ability to hold my head up high and be okay with the events that have occurred in my life.

What a very strange few days this has been.

Rich called the day after our date. He said that he wanted to talk to me since he had a really great time and didn’t want to potentially start a relationship based on lies.

In a nutshell, he's in AA, had a drug problem, and has had many financial issues with his family business. It could wipe out all of his savings. He unloaded family issues on me, and I felt like it was just way too much information.

He asked me if I was horrified by the things he told me, and if it would hinder me from going out with him again. I told him “everyone has their own issues and none of us are perfect” and assured him that of course I would still go out with him again. What am I getting myself into?

He called the following day while I was relaxing in the park, to double check that I was still interested. He wanted to know when I was free to have dinner with him. Since I didn’t have my calendar in front of me, I told him that I would call him when I got home. I ended up getting home late after dinner with a friend, then spent quite some time on the phone with a friend who needed advice about a possible divorce.

I called Rich after that to plan our date, and explained that I was exhausted and wanted to go to bed. After 30 minutes of trying to get off of the phone, trying to dismiss his “I’m here for yous” and “I don’t like to hear you upsets” and me just explaining that I needed to go to bed, I finally was able to hang up.

I think I'm beginning to get in too deep.