Singular Scene

So Singular in Each Particular

Body Double (or preferably, half…)

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The thing with being away from the blog so long is that whole bits of my life have gone unrecorded. This really isn’t a big deal. My life prior to ’04 is largely unrecorded and I feel no ill effects from that. But for my gentle readers there are things in my world that you don’t know. *gasps*. I know, right? My life isn’t a completely open book!

Unfortunately one of the biggest deals this year has been health related. I know, yah boo sux to ill health. And before you get worried. It’s not life threatening. It’s just an inconvenience they call Gastro Oesophogeal Reflux Disease. GORD for short (or GERD if you prefer the ‘merican spelling). It manifests itself as heartburn type symptoms, coupled  with sour/acid taste in my mouth, and occasional nausea.

Fun, right?

The issue is mechanical, the sphincter between my stomach and my oesophagus is malfunctioning and not keeping the acid in my stomach.  Blech.  I’ve had a scope down to see if there is any other untoward business going on and all is well, I just have to put up with it, and undertake some lifestyle changes to reduce the severity of outbreaks. The foods to avoid are basically below:

    • fatty or fried foods
    • peppermint and spearmint
    • whole milk
    • oils
    • chocolate
    • creamed foods or soups
    • most fast foods
    • Edited to addalcohol, thanks Linda
  • The following foods irritate an inflamed lower esophagus and may need to be limited or avoided:
    • citrus fruits and juices (grapefruit, orange, pineapple, tomato)
    • coffee (regular and decaffeinated)
    • caffeinated soft drinks
    • tea
    • other caffeinated beverages
  • Spicy or acidic foods may not be tolerated by some individuals.

Losing weight is apparently big factor, and so I’ve been increasing my exercise output – I figured changing one element of my lifestyle at a time is more achievable than changing everything at once… so for the last few months I’ve been hitting the gym 2-3 times a week, and trying to get out walking more often, which is of course easier now the weather is [kind of] on the improve… As a consequence I’ve lost about 5 kilos. Not bad considering I hadn’t made too many changes to my diet other than avoiding some of the more aggravating offenders (fried food – french fries? not lately…). I gave a dairy free diet a bit of a go for October, largely because a nutritionist took a hair sample and identified casein (milk protien) as a trigger for me. Being without it didn’t affect the GORD at all, unfortunately, but eating less cheese than I used to can’t be all bad…

So the next stop strategy to get the weight down further and a bit faster are some dietary changes and more of an effort to watch my caloric intake… I suspect that the trickiest part of that business will be how to do so without having everything taste like cardboard…

Wish me luck.

This Spring Rain…

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… Seems to be going on rather a long time.  This does not make me happy – largely because it messes with my pretty red suede shoes and means I have to wear boots. Which, let’s face it, isn’t such a bad thing but it does make it feel as though winter has been going on for a VERY long time.

Which, also doesn’t make me happy.

*Today’s post brought to you by November – National Blog Posting Month  in which I will be posting for 30 days straight.  Which means some posts will be better than others.

This is one of the others.

A Matter of Manners

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I’m not sure if it’s possible to write this post without coming across as bitter and twisty, though, in my defence, while I am disappointed by the behavior accounted below I’m not grieving for anything other than being treated with a modicum of respect. The thing I’m most concerned about is that it’s not the first time. If I didn’t know better I’m starting to think my experience is the rule and good manners the exception and doesn’t that just make me feel like I’ve become *sharp intake of breath* my mother.

And so, our story begins…

A couple of months ago and funnily enough, at Bliss’ suggestion (if you’ve been reading since the beginning she was egging me on when I first started documenting this dating business), I signed up to the ‘next big thing’ in dating websites. 

You may well have seen the ads, it’s a site that rather than presenting a smorgasbord of profiles and pictures of singluar hopefuls have to surf through, it does the matching for you (according to your stringent criteria) and sends you details of profiles that are compatible – basically, it takes out some of the guess work and the whole ‘pick n mix’/pot luck of traditional dating sites.

So far I’ve been reasonably impressed with the offerings – and to cut a long and tedious story short, over the last 6 weeks or so I’ve happily corresponded with a P.O.P** Our emails were sparkling with wit and enthusiasm, our interests and lifestyle were ridiculously compatible and so as you do, we met up for a date.

It was a nice; a civilised dinner where the conversation flowed, and that honestly, was the first time I’ve been out with someone who I liked – not so much as to have a ‘crush’ but enough that I would have happily seen him again and spent time in his company!

So, post-date our correspondence continued (as evidenced by daily long and detailed emails and text messages and a phone call or two) and though I maintained a philosophical approach, a ‘que sera sera’ demeanour, I harboured a little hope that we’d see each other again, and that if nothing else, we had potential to be good friends.

(Do I really need to tell you where this is going? )

So, here we are 3 weeks after our date, and the contact has diminished abruptly (overnight!), after his last email chatting about his week and weekend and my reply in the same vein last weekend – there has been nothing since.

Not.A.Word.

It isn’t that he doesn’t want to see me again that bothers me… THIS is what gives me a pain. That he doesn’t have the communication skills/bollox to say, “Hey Dee, just checking in to say that it was great to meet you. I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve decided to ‘keep looking’ and as such, this email will be my last. I wish you all the best”, regards, Gutless Wonder.

(see, not bitter and twisty at all).

I’m a smart, sassy, strong woman who doesn’t feel afraid of speaking my mind and I’m not so fragile that his disinterest is going to cause me any lasting grief; disappointment, sure, I’m human, but I’m secure in myself that I’m valuable (let’s be realistic, FABulous) with or without his interest and because of that, I think I deserve to be treated respectfully. The frustrating thing is that what I really want to do is send him a rocket and a large piece of my mind – but I’ve too much self respect even for that…

… so I’m writing this post instead…

*Godly Online Dating Sites/Services
** Person of Potential

Squeaking In

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I really only have 8 minutes to post this before the midnight deadline so it will be brief… The blogging about dating websites is in the pipeline but my emotional bandwidth to cover it is a bit thin – and I’m tired so instead I shall leave you with a look at my latest venture… my website.

Not a website I’ve been working on for anyone else but MINE. The one for the business that keeps me in the lifestyle to which I’m becoming accustomed… you know, one where you’re I’m not in shedloads of debt and in which I get to work every day doing stuff I love. I know, I’m so ridiculously blessed… In any case, I won’t keep you in suspenders anylonger… go over, have a look! !

http://www.as-scene.com.au and if you like it… would you ‘LIKE’ it?? There’s a ‘f’ button in the welcome panel, if you would click that, I’d be grateful!…

I’d really appreciate the support, thanks!