When waltzing you around a dance floor was the worst a stalker would do!

Stalkers! - What would Ginger do?

Hi there...um...how's it going...long time no see....

Yes, I know, its been some time since my last post, January in fact...oh. I have no other excuse than laziness and forgetfulness. But never mind, I'm back and in that time I've managed to accumulate lots of stories that I'm itching to share.

So, the last time I wrote I was telling you about the weird and uncomfortable date with Jez. (Hmm, Jez is far too cool a name for this self confessed nerd, Jeremy it is.) What happened next though was when things got, shall we say, interesting. All I'll say is that after almost five years of internet dating, this is the first time I've managed to acquire a stalker!

So the next day after date/interview I receive a text from Jeremy asking whether I'd want to meet again. "Ahhh" was my first thought "Did he think that date was good? Were we even on the same date?". At one point I was going to ignore him but then my mother's voice in my head childed me and so decided to be the good and polite girl I was brought up to be. (Sometimes being that good girl sucks!) So I replied, said it was nice to meet him but I didn't think we had enough in common. "I thought we had lots in common" was the reply. Hmm, this was going to be a difficult one. Avoiding the "dead girlfriend" incident I tried to placate him, and in the end he got the message....or so I thought.

One relaxing Sunday afternoon about two weeks later I received a text. "I can't stop thinking about you" OK, so a man I met once for an hour can't stop thinking about me two weeks later. Weird, but I ignored it and got on with my afternoon of tea drinking, biscuit eating and watching Top Hat.

When the worst a stalker could do was waltz you around a dance floor

Another week later and ting ting goes my phone. Its another one from Jeremy. "I want you". This was going beyond weird to bloody uncomfortable. Even in the most stalkery of Fred and Ginger films, Fred would never have said that! He would have just grabbed her hand and spun her around the dance floor singing "I'm in heaven". These modern day obsessives could learn a thing or two from Mr Astaire about seducing a girl. Sending a message saying "I want you" just doesn't cut the mustard.

Sadly, these texts continued for another month or so. Even when I did reply to say I was seeing someone and to leave me alone, it wasn't until I threatened to report him to the police that he finally got the message. In all seriousness I hope he found the help he clearly needed - that's my good girl compassionate side coming out. She doesn't suck at all.

Resolutions

I realised this New Year that trying to drive your Mini in a full Vivian of Holloway circle dress is a bit of a tricky task. Firstly trying to get all your petticoats in without shutting them in the door, and then trying to keep them clear of the gear stick and handbrake! I now realise why girls in the 1950's were supposed to be picked up by the man of a Saturday night. Nothing to do with chivalry and more to do with the fact you're view of the road was somewhat obscured. But no, not driving in my 50's prom dresses is not one of my New Years resolutions in 2012....I just need to practice that one.

No,  my resolution for this year is somewhat more specific. After a rather difficult break up with Guy, my boyfriend of very nearly almost a year at the end of September, followed by a couple of months of mixed messages and trying to be friends, I decided that 2012 was going to be a year of new beginnings. So my resolution for 2012 is to give up Guy. But of course, giving up Guy means getting back on the market and meeting new guys....

Last night was my first date with one such new guy. Having returned to the world of online dating I've had a multitude of un-unique (is that even a word?!) emails and inappropriate offers, I finally received an email this week that caught my interest. This particular guy went by the name of Jez, a tall dark and handsome Indie boy with geek-chic glasses, with a love of music, literature, film and vintage and an air of confidence that came across in his at times poetic emails  - very much my type. Or so I thought...

I arrived at my local pub to find waiting for me at a corner table, not Mr Confident geek-chic indie boy, but a scared looking, short haired and clean shaven "nerdy man" (his words, not mine) and no glasses to be seen. "Ok then..." I thought to myself  "so not exactly what I expected looks-wise, but looks aren't everything and we seemed to have other things in common so all is not lost." I sat down while he swiftly stood up, asked me what I wanted to drink and hi-tailed it to the bar. As soon as he sat down I was subjected to what could only be described as a one sided job interview - a series of serious questions with very little response back from my "interviewer" following my answers. "What made you answer my email?" - When I mentioned the confidence that came through his emails he replied, "Oh, I'm definitely not confident" - with no sarcasm whatsoever. He proceeded to tell me that his last girlfriend died...how do you respond to that on a first date?!
The rest of the evening was filled with me giving him university application and interview advice as it turned out he'd recently put in his UCAS application for this September - I'm ashamed to say this was the highlight of my evening. Alas Jez was not for me, but I hope he finds someone who is.

At the end of my gruelling interview I said my farewells and headed home - I don't think I've ever been exhausted by a first date before! Oh well, onwards and upwards. Hopefully the next one will be a bit more successful.

Happy new year everyone!

Birthday

Today I turned 29. The last birthday of my 20's and what am I doing? Sitting in my childhood bedroom of my parents' house in darkest Dorset, waiting for the hours to go past before I travel back to my shared rented house in the home counties. Not that I'm complaining, but I didn't exactly expect that going into my 30th year I wouldn't have my own place, a permanent job and, if not a boyfriend, then a cat! That is one of the problems on having your birthday on Christmas Day. All the usual "growing up" anxieties attack all at once! It also doesn't help that you can pretty much predict EXACTLY how your birthday will go, so not a huge amount of surprise to look forward to. "Christmas in the morning and birthday in the afternoon" you explain for the umpteenth time when you have to admit to someone when your birthday is. "All I want is to go down the pub for a couple of drinks with friends on my actual birthday! Like normal people" is what I  actually want to scream. But I don't. I politely smile and laugh it off when they say, without fail: "What?! Christmas day?! That's awful." Thanks, that makes me feel a whole lot better!

Ok, so I had better give you a brief back story. As you know I live in the home counties and share a house with two other girls, Caroline and Natasha. Caroline is in her early thirties and is into sport, crafts and God. She makes a mess everywhere...mainly from the sport and craft rather than the God part.
At 25 Natasha is the baby of the "family". I used to work with her a few years ago which is how we met, and then she moved in last year. She's a workaholic who shares a love of cupcake-making with Caroline and may have a pizza addiction! She has a heart of gold though which I couldn't do without. As a fellow only child we've kind of become adopted sisters.

I work in marketing for a university and I love it as it involves me travelling around the country recruiting students for the university. I'm sure my contract should have "staying down with kids" in there...
And you may be asking, why the name vintage gal? Well, if you hadn't already guessed, I love vintage style of the late forties to early sixties....but all of this will come later. For now I'd better return to the festive/birthday activities, where no doubt my mother and step-dad will be spark out for the count in front of Downton Abbey...I knew that second bottle of prossecco would be dangerous.

Merry Christmas everyone!