So, after more several weeks of increasing tension and decreasing communication, LK (aka Ms. NewGal aka the Pie Lady) and I aren't dating. Naturally, I blame myself. I know how I am and I am the first to admit that I am no picnic, no walk in the park. Maybe I just wasn't quite ready. Maybe I just need some "alone time". Hell, maybe I'm just meant to be alone the rest of my life. Just me and my Hilda. Well, maybe that's a little extreme, but probably the best in the short run. Long enough to throw out more of my ex-wife's junk at least. I'm sure that must have grated on poor LK even more than she let on. Hey, it grates on me that I have to deal with all the junk left behind by a couple of worse packrats than me. And, even that wouldn't be bad if not for the fact that virtually everything was a reminder of how I failed there, too.Oh, I know it wasn't all my fault. It takes two to tango and all those platitudes, but I always blame myself. After all, I'm the one thing that's consistent between all my relationships. Sure, some of it was bad timing and a couple of rough weeks, but some of it was just the way we interacted. And, yes, maybe I am more angry than I realize. It's not hard to point to sources of that anger, either. They're all over my house. I know I'm sort of harping on it now, but it's really hard for people who haven't seen it to fathom the volume of junk I have to wade through. 95% of it, of course, is someone else's junk, too. The detrius of an old life left behind like a snake shedding its skin. All for me to deal with. Alone.

And, there it is. That word. "Alone". Again. And again and again. Or, perhaps, still. And, that, I know, is my fault. Never really letting anyone in because if I do, I know they won't like what they see. As is partially born out by this particular personal tragedy. A sadly self-fullfilling prophecy. I guess the question for my therapist now is "why?" Why should I have internalized the belief that I'm not good enough when bottom-feeding scum who cheat on their spouses and have jobs only because their parents have connections feel so good about themselves? Certainly, until I answer that question, I'm not really ready to be out dating, am I?

Well, at least answering that question, in part or in whole, will give me time to clean my house the rest of the way and lose some weight and just generally improve myself.