Lohan facing first day of life after rehab

Lindsay Lohan is scheduled to be released from a rehab center Monday into another year of uncertainty.

For months, the actress has been haunted by her inability, or unwillingness, to shake a 3 1/2-year-old drunken driving case that resulted in two rehab stints and two trips to jail in 2010 alone.

Lohan remains under investigation for an alleged attack on a rehab worker at the Betty Ford Center and she could land back in jail for 6 months if charged with misdemeanor battery or another probation violation, The Associated Press reports.

If Lohan remains out of trouble, a judge could relax the terms of her sentence in late February, ending a cycle of court hearings and jail threats that have loomed consistently since May.

After spending three months in treatment programs at Betty Ford, experts say Lohan has a good shot at recovery. Provided, of course, that she wants it, changes her party-girl lifestyle and remains in continued therapy.

If a New Year's Day message posted on Twitter is any indication, the "Mean Girls" star seems ready to do that. "Today is the first day of the rest of my life," the posting said. " 'The future depends on what we do in the present.' -Mahatma Gandhi... One step at a time..."

She also is in the process of launching a new website, according to RadarOnline.com. The site is still under construction, but it features photos of the actress and electro-pop music.

Recovery won't be easy, but she has "a fighting chance," says Jeffrey C. Friedman, a substance abuse counselor at Cottonwood Tucson and a recovering heroin addict who has been sober for 24 years. "It would just be a question, is she going to be willing to continue to make the sacrifices she needs to? For all of us, it's a lifelong process."

Career-wise, any resurgence appears intertwined with her continued recovery. Gone is her role as porn star Linda Lovelace in a biopic, and no replacement acting gig has been announced.

The actress' lawyer and other reps did not return messages seeking comment on her post-rehab plans.