Schnozz unusual

My love is like a red, red nose.....

My nose looks inoffensive - it's not the adorable retrousse, beloved of female romance writers, it's not an emphatic Roman nor a bulbous splodge. It looks - ordinary. But looks can be deceptive. I clearly have some bloodhound in my genetic make up - thankfully I have neither the droopy eyes or ears but I do have a super-sense of smell. It's a mixed blessing - my old office used to joke that I could track a colleague by smell if we didn't know where they were (er, ugh!) and we had the crisp challenge where they'd open a bag behind the desk divide and I'd have to name that crisp flavour in one. And bf said that if I told people that I could smell Spring coming and how hard water is, that I'd be locked up in a straitjacket (ha, but on an anonymous blog, you'd have to find me first!). It means I can take against things - banana skins cause me to want to vomit for example (or even bananas which have been artifically heated and ripened in supermarkets). And now I discover that LL has had a profound effect on my conk: it has RUINED me for McDonalds milkshakes, the smell alone whizzes me straight back to LL days. And I found that the cauliflower cheese soup I virtuously whizzed up the other weekend reminds me queasily of their "vegetable" soup. Damn, damn, damn.

I am part way through my sin experiences. No, not a coy soft porn reference to a Valentine's Day extravaganza but to the brunch, VD food (no, not a sexual disease - Valentine's Day again - although, it can't just be coincidence that they share the same initials...), pancake day and cheese tasting. The brunch was good and bad - I really enjoyed my American pancakes and maple syrup (but not the pain au chocolate I really ate to be polite - I know, daft huh?) and the influx of carbs sent my blood sugar on a roller coaster. VD meal was very abstemious - all pretty much SB compliant except the pudding I'd chosen purely because it was the lowest calorie option and seemed most harmless (pannacotta with raspberries) but half a bottle of fizz, a glass and a half of red and that pudding meant I woke up this morning starving hungry and with a cracking headache - now how is THAT fair? I have pretty much not thrown the baby out with the bath water (of all the bizarre expressions!) and stuck to the diet in between times, despite the Creme Eggs which are EVERYWHERE singing softly and beguilingly at me. But today another team had a bake-off where I was required (no, really) to try a bit of 5 cakes and declare my favourite. I managed to just have slithers of 4 but they were all chocolate and I ended up back at my desk with my heart literally hammering from the sugar dump. It was quite scary to have such a strong reaction - as if I'd drunk a huge amount of strong coffee. Btw, the cake with the Maltesers baked into the mix was my favourite - GENIUS!

I am going to try Splenda on my pancakes tomorrow - I am not optimistic but will give it a go. I like them really lemony so may not notice the artifical taste too much....

Three things to feel grateful for yesterday:

1. Bf - do love him and what better time to think that than VD with Ella on the stereo and a glass of wine?
2. My jeans are definitely feeling a little baggy - hurrah! Might be delusion but then again.... On the other hand I tried on one of my 'proper' bras - it only started hurting after 6 hours so a bit of an improvement but still some way off.
3. Enforced walk (bf's idea) to nearest shopping area (c2.5 miles away) to pick up a few groceries and have a coffee (skinny cappuccino for me, white mocha latte for him) - it's not a pretty walk but it was good to burn a few calories nonetheless and get some 'fresh', cold, damp air.