Spring has Sprung

Driving home tonight I realised that it was just Dusk! After months of driving home in the pitch black, it brought such a smile. While putting out the wheelie bin I admired the bunches of daffs braving the chilly morning. It has been such a relief to not wake up to ice crystals coating every bloody surface. I don't know about you, but I have had quite enough of the bloody winter.

It's a strange time all round and while things seem to be progressing satisfactorily in many things, it's happening at a glacial pace. And as we all know, patience has never been my virtue. Ever.

It's been about a month into my regime change and I lost 7lb. Unfortunately, I did too much too soon and managed to put my system into complete shock, so I had to cut things back again and I've gained 2lb. However, as I am now progressing onto the Davina McColl set of workouts which are far more demanding, I am believing a colleague who said it was muscle, not fat. With my dodgy knee, I have been trying not to push things too fast and so far, touch wood, it's been fine. I've realised I can't bear doing any more than half an hour's worth of exercise, so I'm going to stick with that, and as my energy levels increase I'll do more stuff in the evenings.

Speaking of which, I am really quite surprised at the difference the exercise and change of diet has been making to me. It shows in odd ways: like the fact that you can actually see the floor in my bedroom. The piles of laundry have now gone. I am now also a little bit more organised with my admin. Once a week I sort through my post, shred and recycle things and sort things out as necessary. While it may not look more sorted, trust me, it is.

In some ways, I also feel more perky and flirty. Which led to a guy, a rather cute guy, after several encounters say to me that he'd call. That in itself was fine. While I know I don't need to run things past the Viking, I don't need his permission to have a separate social life now, I did want to be straight with him about it. It certainly was a bit of a weird conversation, but worthwhile. In a way, it reinforced our friendship. In the end though, the guy didn't ring. Boo Hiss. I suspect that wasn't the point. It made me realise that while I'm happy having a flirt, I'm not ready for anything serious, or even light-hearted at the moment. It's enough to feel perky and flirty.

Boy and I continue to go to Salsa. He has started to go to the sessions at the Forum on Monday nights. I'm happy giving that session a miss as I don't like dancing on the cold, hard tiled floor, it hurts my hips and knees. This half-term I've hardly seen him, he's been bumming round Norwich with a gaggle of teens, going to the movies, swimming and to local eateries. I dropped him off and picked him up from Salsa and he was buzzing, he took some mates and by the sounds of things, they had a completely brilliant time.

I love dancing and will groove away quite happily to pretty much anything. I find Salsa a challenge, mainly because I have to let myself be led. And we all know how well I do as I'm told! So being able to give myself up to a man and be led is a big deal and sometimes I'm better at it, than others. I am determined to stick with it because I think it represents a bigger Life Lesson for me.

When I have set ideas about things, I've noticed, they either never go according to plan, or end up completely unsatisfactory, with much angst and gnashing of teeth. In the past few years, the best times have happened when I've given myself up to the moment. My relationship with the Viking proves that point. Therefore, I am trying to not be such a Control Freak all the time. Whether Boy will agree, I'm not sure, but I am trying.

I suspect that's all that matters at the moment, that I keep trying.