Should You Go Out on a Second Date? #DatingAdvice : ) #Oooh! #LoveIsInTheAir! #Romance? lol!

Yeah, should you bother going out on a second date, if, say, the first date didn't go well? Hmmm... you'd think that would be a straight-forward, "Uh, d'uh, noooo...", right? Hmm... I guess it would depend on how you ended up going on that 'first date', in the first place. Is this a random date - do people actually do that, any more? Do people still date (says the girl who clearly doesn't see herself as 'dating' anyone! hahahahaha! Okay, that makes me laugh!)?  I don't know, are 'dates' archaic? It seems like it.

If you do meet someone, randomly, which, perhaps, is online, or at a grocery store (?), or somewhere, let's say, not at work, or not somewhere you frequent, like a bar (I'm kidding, you're prolly not out frequenting bars.. let's just say you might go there, regularly...happy, now? Prefer to think of yourself as 'a regular', and not necessarily a 'frequenter'? hahaha! Oh, man, this stuff makes me laugh! To myself, mostly! lol!) (I am a 'frequenter of bars'...yeah, you don't hear that, much... prolly 'cause it's a closely kept secret! hahaha!) (Man, you'd think I've been drinkin' all day, but, no, just eating chocolate... have yet to have a 'healthy' meal... whatever, we're still technically 'on break', and school doesn't go back in 'til Monday, at which time, we will return to our normal, 'healthy' selves, but until then, Hello, KFC! lol!)

So, should you go on a second 'date' with someone you didn't find a connection with on the first date? Is the question, really, how desperate are you for a relationship? Really desperate (for real, there are times in your life when you are truly 'desperate' for a relationship - I'm obviously past that... a great relationship would be a lot of fun, but I am no longer interested in putting up with a whole lot of crap in order to have said relationship - whatevs...plus, I use 'whatevs' too much - it has to really matter to me to put in that much effort..and I'll NEVER put up with anything abusive, again. Forget that. I am shocked at what I have tolerated in the past... poor me, makes me feel sad for myself, but that self is in my background, not in my present, and definitely not in my future, and I hope the same is true for you. This is much easier when you are financially independent, soooo, it's not usually a serious possibility for everyone, but I hope it becomes that for you, if it hasn't, already : ) I'm behind you all the way (not literally, no need to have a quick look behind you, right now! haha!)

Sooo, I think, regardless of the current information out there, right now, about keep seeing someone until you finally feel a connection.... mmmm, I don't think so. What a massive waste of your time. And money? Who is doing the paying? Is it that crap 'let's go dutch' thing? Bleh! That's a very bad sign. They'll never share their money, or anything else. Cheapos are the WORST! Worsetestest! Bleh! Noooo... they're jerks. Don't go anywhere you can't afford, that's ridiculous. And if there's no attraction, AND no fun times, no laughing, no great conversation, nuffin' at all, what makes anyone think there will magically be something great the next time you see them.....

However, let's say you do meet someone you regularly come in contact with - they make you smile, every time you see them. They make you laugh out loud, every time they text you, every conversation you have, they're actively fun to be around... you may not have been physically attracted to them, at first (or even better, you were! lol!), now we've got something to work with, here.... and that's definitely worth a shot.

I am endlessly disturbed by this 'renewed' whole 'men are the hunters' approach to finding someone who is just right for you. Ugh!!  Noooo, because that makes women 'prey'. And if a woman is actively 'running away', as prey does, and the man is 'hunting her down' - someone needs therapy, and plenty of it. Bleh!  I wish they would stop spouting off this kind of message - very bad for everyone involved. I say, mutual attraction works the best, and if mutual attraction is not your cup of tea, you're a crazy, and that is not fun, at all -- okay, disclaimer, everyone falls for a 'crazy', at least one time, sometimes they marry a few of them, but, eventually, let's hope everyone moves past the crazy train, and finds someone nice and kind and normal....who is'a schmokin' hot! hahahahaha! So that's what I hope for you - find someone you really, really want to spend time with, someone who makes you feel good, who makes you feel happy, and who you also make feel good and happy (whaaatt??  Equality?? Yep - shoot for equality, if you must use a hunting analogy! haha!).  Okay. I think I totally solved that...or just go on that second date, if it sounds like you can wrangle some fun out of it! lol!

Oh, and about that '90 day rule' - yeah, I don't know about that one, either... I've been engaged and moved in well within the 90 days, in mah' past...hahahahaha! Whatevs! If it's great, the chances are high it'll happen really fast... it's your life, your decisions...oh, just realized, I had mucho jewelry from these love interests right away - is that what makes the difference?? hahaha! Maybe only to me?? hahaha! Okay, go get yourself someone great! Mucho Luckos!! Ailsa xox
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Okay, I thought these were funny! lol! 

Should You Lose Weight Over the Holidays? #DietSchmiet (And other good ideas! lol!)

Hmmm, I say, no, give yourself a wee break with the whole weight loss thing. Still do your usual healthy things, but when it comes to Holiday Parties, or fun food at Christmas and all through the holidays, it's not really going to make any big difference in your actual weight if you just relax and enjoy yourself.. you've gotta really overdo it, every day, consistently, to gain weight in a short period, so, really, I think that's more of a media-hype thing than reality.

Holiday Shopping - soo many Amazing Deals, just for you! : )

Dis me - man, do me always gotta stand like that? Hahaha! Whatevs - most people come up with a way they like to pose for pictures, and that's what sticks - lol! And I'm at Butchart Gardens, just outside of Victoria, BC, Canada - so gorgeous, we love it out there : )

I've been reading a LOT of diet and weight loss books, lately - mostly because I went in for a blood test, which I studied really hard for (lol!), and even fasted for over 12 hours so I would do really well on the test, went in, took the blood test, got a really nice nurse (so thankful for great nurses!), but then I got a call on a Saturday from the doctor's office, to say I had to come in, the doctor wanted to talk to me. Wow, a call from the doctor's office on a Saturday? Scary stuff, right? So  immediately went out and got all these diet and weight loss books, making the big assumption it must be my blood sugar (since I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes when I was pregnant with my son, Aidan, although, truth be told, I never really believed that, but I did follow the diabetic diet right through my pregnancy, then just stuck with it after that - you know, the usual, switch up pop - soda - for water - which was waay harder than you might think - at first, I really didn't like water, had to add lemon, lime, oranges, cucumber...all sorts of things to make the water have a flavor, right? But now I just like regular water, and adding the extras in is just for fun, no longer a necessity! lol!).

So, the take-away is that I thought, immediately, okay, I need to lose weight, if that's gonna help my blood sugar, lower my blood pressure, that whole thing... so I read a Jorge Cruise book, was very interesting, but I am not a big fan of anything that says you can 'lose 9 pounds in one week' - yikes, nooo, that's not healthy!  No do that to your pretty body! Be gentle and kind to your body, and your mind. I really like Jorge Cruise, though, he's a very good man, a nice guy, and super-handsome, and  I did come away with some good information, about 'free food' - food Jorge Cruise has listed as, basically, free of sugar calories - so, cheese, nuts and seeds, meat (this is what I remember - I have also included Vanilla Fudge, since I really, really love Vanilla Fudge, soooo, it prolly okay, right?? hahahaha! Whatevs!  It does make me all proud o' my food choices when I have cheese or seeds, which I love, anyway. It's definitely worth a read, but any 'diet' that is really involved will be virtually impossible to follow, at least for any significant amount of time, and you're not gonna want to do that during the holidays - that's a time for fun (also, Monday thru Sunday, 24/7, all year long! hahaha!)

 Still me, but with some lovely Fall Colours! Same Dress, Same Pose, Same Place - lol! I am a creature of habit, I likes what I likes, apparently, all da time! hahaha! 

Then I read this book by a couple o' guys from Santa Barbara, technically doctors, 'Why Women Need Fat', or something like that - will look it up for you, if you want to read it, too : )  At first, for the first half of the book, I really enjoyed it, a very good look at why women gain weight with each baby, need the weight for the next baby (I know, questionable...), and the whole focus of the book was around Susan, who I started calling, Poor Ol' Susan, since they constantly referred to 'Susan' as a middle-aged chubby girl, who was having a really difficult time losing the weight around the middle... and then they lost me in the middle of the book, when they took a turn toward the creepy, and discussed a 'study' where this 19 year old guy was proven to NOT be attracted to Middle-aged Susan - uuuh, Susan says, Good?? hahahahaha!  Yuck! But that makes me laugh! Pretty sure adult women are not trying to look great for all the 19 year old guys out there! hahahaha! Oh, man. Men. So funny!  They have an interesting perspective on women... but I did like their whole premise that women have a 'set point' where their weight seems to naturally fluctuate - I believe that, that seems reasonable and accurate...but you can change your 'set point', if you want to, and it doesn't matter what or who your motivation is for wanting to reshape your body, or get your body back to your 'old' shape (lol!), whatever motivates you is a good thing! lol! Get in there, do what you wanna do : )

Holiday Shopping - soo many amazing Deals, just for you! : )

Soo, really, the very best way to 'reshape' your body is with weights, either at the gym or at home. The truth is that most aerobic exercise is for your insides to be nice and healthy, and lifting weights, with lovely, fancy exercise machines, which I love, love, love, or hand weights at home, coupled with, say, a small stepper - should run you around $49.95 (ugh, I priced this stepper out a while ago, and was shocked to see the price had gone up to $129. - that's too much for a stepper, wait for it to go on sale - lol!), jus' so you know the price range, and hand weights should run you from $1 - $25, depending on the size of the hand weights - start small, work your way up, slowly, or just stick with the low weights - 1 - 5 pounds is plenty for women, when you're working on your arms...more for your legs and torso, so not too expensive, at all.

Interestingly enough, none of the 'diet' books I read included a good section on what exercises really work for women...oh, and as a quick aside, I cannot find a good gym in Victoria with decent equipment for women...what is that about? I did stop by Goodlife Fitness, but what jerks they are ('jerks' is a much nicer word than I would use in my car! hahaha!). If you go by a gym to see if it's right for you, don't let anyone push you around. If they're pushy when you first walk in, what a nightmare - they're there to sell you more product, will cost you a fortune, is very annoying, and I think they prey on women - not good. Very bad. So it's worth looking around for a gym where you see people smiling, friendly, not bitchy (ugh, that's annoying, ain't it?? lol!), and the staff are nice and normal. Those great gyms are out there, and they should have really good equipment for you to get your body into fantastic shape in no time.

And who doesn't want a little wine - we'll all age gracefully! lol! ; )
Save $120 on 12 World Class Wines for $69.99, Plus Free Corkscrew Set! So go enjoy yourself during the holidays, don't worry about any particular meal or treats. Your body adjusts to what your doing, no worries. Just think of your body as this amazing machine that can deal with practically everything, be moderate the rest of the time, and you'll be totally fine! Happy Holidays, Gorgeous!! lol!  Ailsa xox

Oh, almost forgot to tell you - I went in to see my lovely doctor, who is really nice and super-smart, and she said, nothing to worry about, I'm super-healthy! Yahoo! I'm still gonna drop 10 pounds - feel like that's a good idea, for me. I want to be really careful with my Blood Pressure, and losing 10 pounds can make a big difference in lowering your blood pressure and lowering your cholesterol, so I've been adding a 1/4 cup oatmeal onto my granola every morning - I love it, and I feel like all that oatmeal is working it's magic while I go about mah' day! hahaha! I put a lot o' stock in the health benefits of oatmeal! hahaha! Happy Holidays - go enjoy yourself! : )

Black Friday Deals and FLASH Sales - soo cool! I'm lovin' the Flash Sales! 

https://buildyourownhousebodylife.blogspot.ca/2015/11/black-friday-sales-and-half-lockers-for.html

To Give or Not To Give - Are You Struggling with that, right now, too?

Man, oh, man, I'm really struggling with whether to give, or not to give, to certain people, and, frankly, to certain causes, this year, and, with 8 days left before Christmas, I'm really struggling with the whole 'should I give a gift to this person, or do I let them off the list, this year? It's a hard time of year. It's supposed to be such a joyous time of year, and sometimes it is (although, I can't really think of a Christmas, as an adult, where emotions didn't run high, stress from family (well, mostly extended family - you know, the whole in-law/outlaw thing... Thank Goodness that's a thing of the past for me, now, but, man, that used to be sooo painful at the holidays, since you can pretty much avoid those difficult people all the rest of the year, but a big holiday like Christmas comes around, and then you have to deal with them.... is very tricky for a lot of people.... I might hazard a guess that it's very tricky for the vast majority of the people... am I right? Do other people stress out about Christmas Day like I do, and have done in the past?

I was listening to the radio, this morning, and they were talking about some poor girl who was just dumped by her boyfriend two weeks ago, on Facebook, for God's Sake (a loser! lol!) right before Christmas, and she didn't know whether to still give him his gifts. Oh, no! Poor girl! I feel for her, because she clearly still holds a torch for him, the break up just happened, and what if he's one of those losers (well, we've already established that he's a loser for breaking up with her over Facebook, right? hahaha!) (Noo, I shouldn't laugh - what if she's the jerk?? I didn't used to think there were any bad girls, but now my eyes have been a'opened, and there are sooo many very bad girls out there - iz shocking! I'd break up with them, too, but I'm getting really good at recognizing 'Crazy' way faster than I used to! hahaha!)

Anyway, so how do you make that final decision on whether to give someone a gift when you are seriously on the fence about whether they deserve a gift from you, or not? Do you spend your hard-earned money on someone you don't know is going to appreciate your gift? What if they don't say thank you? Is that a make or break it thing for you? (Now, really, how is it that one human being can receive a gift, and NOT say Thank you?? Bleh! Those are not good human beings!) (I see that I have a lot of little 'asides' in here! hahaha! extra little thoughts I just feel like throwing in!)

I was on Amazon, the other night (and I love the drone shipping thing, by the way - can you imagine a zillion little drones, like insects - should totally work, no problemo!)(New catch phrase of 2020 - 'Watch out!'), and there are some seriously good prices on there, but, still, even with the good prices (dammit, the things I'm looking at are a terrible price... dammit, note to self: Develop cheaper tastes! hahahaha!), I just can't decide whether to send another gift, or not. Not, I guess.

I think my bottom line on this is if I'm that much on the fence about sending something, is it still in the spirit of giving, or have we moved into another territory? lol!  Hmmm.... oh, and the cause I'm concerned about supporting, this year, is The Salvation Army. I've always, always supported the Salvation Army in the past, and I have info on my blog for how my lovely readers (that's you! lol!) can give through text messages, since thats my fave way to communicate, even when I'm donating! lol! But here's the thing - have you seen the posts on Facebook about the Salvation Army not supporting the LGBT community? Now that's a very serious problem for me. That is not okay. I've read some stuff about it, but here's what's tricky for me - it was my understanding that the Salvation Army doesn't turn anyone away - is that not true? I like that they support families in need, but I thought they were very active in helping people who are homeless, regardless of the reason, and I thought they were there to help anyone. Well, I think I'll still text in my support, for this year, and do more research. If they do have an issue, they need to step it up and help everyone - this is the problem with so many churches, being exclusionary - yeah, pretty sure that's not what God wants.....I think he loves EVERYONE, right?? Is this my Christmas message? hahahaha! All cheery, 'n all?? hahaha! Sorry! It how I feelin', today! I'll prolly just send the gift, then I don't have to think about it, any more (right, if only I could do something quickly, and without thought - wouldn't my life be so different?? hahahaha!).

Okay, Merry Christmas, and all that!  I'll link my other articles to this page, in case you need some more help and understanding during the Holidays! lol!  And I DO hope you have a wonderful Holiday, and, like the Latin's used to say, Illigitimus Non Tatum Carborundum - don't let the bastards get you down! Is the only Latin I really retained - wonder why?? hahaha!  Cheers!! Ailsa xox 

Text Donations - it's always nice to help at Christmas, and especially if it's super fast and easy (is the truth!)...
http://buildyourownhousebodylife.blogspot.ca/2012/11/text-donations-how-can-we-get-more.html

How to Get along with Difficult People - maybe your in-laws, or is it your very own family, too?? Just random people annoying you, right now??hahaha! If you laugh a little bit, it might help you have an easier time, and you can always make those horrible times into funny stories for your friends, later, right? It'll be fun - and you might want to go ahead and buy that new Whipped Cream Flavored Vodka, after all... it might help you make up those stories while you're in the midst of some Crazy over the holidays! lol! http://buildyourownhousebodylife.blogspot.ca/2010/11/how-to-get-along-with-difficult-people.html

Hey, find someone better! Or, how about someone with a better family (that used to be my big dream! hahaha!) http://buildyourownhousebodylife.blogspot.ca/2010/11/how-to-marry-rich-or-find-rich-guy.html

My Favorite Recipes - they're all tried and true, I make them all the time - I figure, make something delicious, at least you'll have great food, right? And then do your very best to eliminate, or minimize, all those difficult people and difficult choices, from your life - make your life all lovely and normal - you'll love the peace of it all! lol! http://buildyourownhousebodylife.blogspot.ca/2011/11/thanksgiving-recipes-easy-and-delicious.html