Ladies and gentlemen...

I stand before you all today and proudly announce that as of today, I am "one year clean" from picking the skin around my fingers.

I will admit, this date snuck up on me. I had said a long time ago when I made it to a year I'd buy a new right hand ring, but I actually did that at the six month marker. I haven't yet decided if I will treat myself to something yet or not. We are going to Itasca next month, that might have to be treat enough for now!

At any rate, I never dreamed I could ever make it this far. I had tried so many times in the past and almost always failed after a few weeks. I don't know what made it stick this time, I think a big part of it was how VERY public I made my battle, chronicling the entire thing here and on Facebook. Pretty much everyone I know knew I was doing this so I knew I wouldn't just be letting myself down, but would have to face the embarrassment of all those people knowing I failed. I couldn't have that!

So here I am one year later. I still get stressed out, I still internalize alot of it and have the same amount of nervous energy I've always had. I have just learned to deal with it in other ways. Ways that are much less destructive to my body.

I am more than confident that I will never pick up this bad habit again. I don't miss it, I don't even really think about it anymore. But because I am a bit of a "Rain Man" when it comes to dates, I'm pretty sure in the back of my head I'll always remember this day.

And on we go.