On Sunday I did something that’s a bit scary for me: I held a picnic for my birthday – a couple of weeks early – down at the beach.
That in itself doesn’t sound too scary, does it? But I’ve never been very good at throwing social gatherings. Plus, having a December birthday means that most of the people you invite to your get-together can’t come. Even when you invite them a month or two before the date.
I know, it’s just how December rolls with the crazy social whirlwind. I’ve always hated that about my birthday, though. I used to see it as a personal reflection. Surely if people liked me enough they’d go out of their way to come to my party? But that isn’t how life works. We each have our own priorities.
So I went ahead and had a picnic, even though the only people that could make it were my family and my very good friend and her lovely hubby. There were a few others who were going to come or at least try to, but it just didn’t work out like that.
Never mind. I no longer take these things personally.
Those of us who could be there all had a blast, down by the sea.
And cake. We had cake. Actually, there were THREE cakes*, but I made this one…
I adapted this gluten and sugar free cheesecake recipe by adding lemon juice and zest. I also used stevia instead of rice syrup. It was given a resounding thumbs up by one and all. The first time I’ve ever made a cheesecake!
*I certainly didn’t expect two other cakes! One was for my little nieces who like very plain things like sponge cake with vanilla icing. The other was a complete surprise. My mother went out of her way to make a gluten free chocolate mud cake.
So even though it wasn’t sugar free, I had a sliver anyway. Because I cannot tell you the last time my mother ever baked a cake for me. Seriously.
Other things of note:
- Since writing last week about taking a more relaxed approach to being supported, I scored two job interviews. Both of them happened today and both were positive.
- One was with a guy who is REALLY cute. Which was kinda distracting. 😉
- The cute one has already called me in for a second interview tomorrow. The other I’ll probably hear from very soon, too.
- For said interviews, I wore a dress that’s been just a little bit too tight for most of this year. On a whim, today I pulled it out of the cupboard and was able to zip it up very comfortably.
- So without being over-zealous, my I Quit Sugar experiment has caused me to shed a few pounds already. I don’t weigh myself, so I’m not sure how much. But enough for that dress (one I really like) to fit me very nicely indeed.
And now it is almost time for yoga.
Tomorrow I’m meeting with a client for a small freelance job – helping someone set up a WordPress site for their business. Then I’m meeting a friend of a friend, who might be need a freelance copywriter.
All of these things could still possibly fall flat but it’s amazing that until I made the call to chill the heck out, nothing much was happening for me. Now, there’s kind of a lot going on.
Maybe it’s all just a giant coincidence, or maybe not. I don’t really believe in coincidences much anymore.
And I’ll keep you posted…
~Svasti
