Teppy--Oh, man. I hate that feeling of rejection and vulnerability. But remember--as my therapist said to me REPEATEDLY as it took me years to get--Each relationship is not a referendum on your whole life. It's just one guy. It only takes one person to like you back--just one. You may run into hundreds of people who don't want you, but that doesn't mean *all* men won't want you. It FEELS that way, but luckily your feelings don't define the real world. You have had boyfriends and affairs in the past, so even your own experience proves you wrong even though it's impossible to see at this point. I told my therapist and all my friends at age 36 after the 8th guy in four years told me he thought of me as "a friend" that I was clearly not sexually appealing to men and that I going to be an old lady in my NYC studio apartment with 18 cats. Two months later I met the BF.

But remember--as my therapist said to me REPEATEDLY as it took me years to get--Each relationship is not a referendum on your whole life. It's just one guy. It only takes one person to like you back--just one.

See, this is why we all have the t-shirts.

Happy Birthday, Trudy!

Wishing you peace, love, joy, freedom, sex and excitement today and forevers.

May Kara's day be filled with mad fun!

--
Oh hell, Tep. That just sucks. Ice cream is clearly the answer.

My back is hurting less and I might have smooched a boy last night.

I am also posting from J3.0's cause I hooked up her cable access. Go me!

Cass, you hooked it up? You're a rock star.

I had that elusive 30 pain free minutes, maybe an hour. I popped two Tylenol at 3:00 (because I forgot to take the ibuprofen when I ate, and can't tolerate them on an empty stomach) and then hopped in the shower and stayed there, with the water as hot as I can stand it, for 30 minutes. I stayed pain free until about 4. Since then, I've been stiffening up again, but it's still not bad.

See, this is why we all have the t-shirts.

I think I'm going to invest in a sweat suit, with the slogan on the top and bottoms.

I've said that, too, Robin, to other people. But in my heart, I believe there is an Erika Exception, sort of.(obviously not always, since I did make a fool out of myself over somebody recently.)

{{{Teppy}}}

{{{Teppy}}}

Been there, done that, wore the hair shirt. I wish I knew what to tell you to make it all better.

Friend (who has the unfortunate burden of sharing the same name with Crush!Boy!Who!Doesn't!Like!Me) wouldn't let me eat a whole gallon of ice cream, OR a whole pie. I told him he was no friend of mine. Then he relented and bought me pizza. I still need some sort of pastry, though, and since I'm about to go get groceries, I will be eyeing the baked goods counter with the greed of a vulture.

Still feel like complete unattractive worthless pathetic worm poop, but I've stopped crying. For now.

Aw, Steph. That just sucks.

Friend (who has the unfortunate burden of sharing the same name with Crush!Boy!Who!Doesn't!Like!Me) wouldn't let me eat a whole gallon of ice cream, OR a whole pie. I told him he was no friend of mine.

Oh, noes. Is he gymtastic?

Then he relented and bought me pizza.

Was there at least some wine or beer with the pizza?

I still need some sort of pastry, though, and since I'm about to go get groceries, I will be eyeing the baked goods counter with the greed of a vulture.

You probably don't want to hear this, but the only guys I ever leveled with, like crush!boy did with you, were the boys I really liked as humans, you know?

If a boy I wasn't interested in seemed to be liking me, I just ignored it and him, and avoided him when possible. I only ever brought it up the I'm-not-looking-thing if I cared about him.

I know this doesn't take the sting out of hearing he's not looking, but it's a far more likely scenario *than* that he finds you repellant in any way. To be fair though, I could *never* accept that reasoning for myself when boys I liked headed me off at the pass.

You are a beautiful woman. In addition to being beautiful, you are smart. You're funny. You like to have a good time. You have diverse interests. You're compassionate. You're thoughtful. I hope when the rejection demons take a breather, you can remember at least some of that.