I moved here a little less than a year ago and haven't made any real friends. I'm looking for people who I can actually hang out with, get along with, who will ease this loneliness I've got going on and make Burlington a place I'm really interested in living.

About me:

I'm 28 with a 6 month-old son. Right now I'm a work-at-home mom, but most of the time I'm just hanging out with the little boy. I'm tattooed, crass, introspective, hard to shock, intelligent, funny, dirty-mouthed, spiritual without being AT ALL religious, a good conversationalist, and I don't fit into any molds that I can think of. I love music and movies and cooking and making crafty things and reading and yoga and being outside and talking about things other than my baby's last bowel movement.

Truth be told, I'm just incredibly lonely right now. I know approximately 4 people in the Burlington area and haven't *really* clicked with any of them. Spending all my time with my six month-old son is fantastic, he's the love of my life, but it's also unbelievably solitary. I'm having a very hard time meeting new people and making friends.

What I'm looking for:

People who are honest, who can admit how hard it is being a mom sometimes, who won't think I'm crazy for sometimes wanting to run away from my son, who don't fit into the conventional idea of a mom, who want to talk to me about politics and art and the search for self, who are constantly striving to be better people and better parents. Basically I'm looking for other people out there who want a new friend.

Please email me and let's go for tea at Dobra or walk around Oakledge Park or meet at the farmer's market and get to know each other. If we don't click, so be it. If we do, so much the better for us both.

if only it could all be positive ...

I am astoundingly, heart-breakingly lonely.

The idea of moving here scared me but I convinced myself it wouldn't be difficult. Make new friends? No problem ... I've always been so good at it before. But now I realize that I've never actually had to before, my friends just always came built in through boyfriends or school or work or whatever. And as it turns out, all my friendliness, my people-attracting skills, may not ever have actually existed. So I am stuck in a town where I know nobody, desperate for a friend.

I am so lonely. And I have no idea how to make friends.

And I miss my friends so much. I miss the comfort of being in the presence of people who know all my stories, all my quirks, who understand the dynamics of Margaret. I miss knowing that I can say stupid things or swear like a sailor or talk about the latest celebrity breakup without being judged. I miss inside jokes. I miss my friends.