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Now! Delayed gratification is for sissies.

Snooping is bad, but I would do it anyway. Like so many other things in life.

Sheepofages, you're my new personal hero - so true.
Sometimes I think the very best you can hope for is a lesson along the lines of "I survived it!"

Good luck :)

Yes I Can! :)

I think the real question here is, is your heart genuinely in your relationship?

The poor pony, I thought she would be more popular. I guess I'll just have to return her to the glue factory then.

I was in a similar situation with a clingy ex a couple of years ago - not nearly as bad though! And, thank God, it was in the days before facebook (remember those?). Seriously, the only solution I can recommend is to just break off contact completely. It may feel horrible but in the long run it's probably better for him, too - there is no way he will ever move on if he's still waiting with bated for breath for your next barely-civil email. (Maybe send him one last mail explaining that you will no longer be answering his messages, if you feel like being polite about it.)

The whole decorating-the-outside-of-your-house thing isn't much done where I'm from... we might get a small indigenous tree for the living room, but that's about it really.
(For some reason Xmas lights just aren't quite the same when it's the middle of summer and 35 degrees outside.)

Spending it with the SO's family... and taking my mother with me. Anyone else seeing a great comedy set-up here? Wish me luck!

right now, for example, I'm eyeballing the leftover chicken bake in my fridge...

I have no attention span whatsoever, so I've been changing it every couple of days. What can I say, I'm fickle that way.

Definitely! When I was in my teens I once went on a date with a boy who I liked so much that I actually had to excuse myself to go throw up. It didn't work out for some reason.. I guess it wasn't a sustainable kind of relationship :)

I've had it before and seem to always get horribly ill nonetheless.. so no, I'll just mainline vitamin C instead.

Barbara Kingsolver's "The Poisonwood Bible" is probably my favourite book of all time, but I'd recommend pretty much anything of hers, really.
Agreed about Isabel Allende... Also recently re-read Ruth Ozeki's "My Year of Meat" which is great... Or, Richard Russo's "Empire Falls" is a good old-fashioned family saga, perfect for reading on long journeys. I could go on and on.. but I won't. :)

July! Cos it's the end of winter where I live..

October: Southern Hemisphere spring! Yay!

There must be a Tesco's somewhere nearby? Buying groceries and cooking your own food is definitely the cheapest way to eat.
If you're staying in Shoreditch, beware of accidentally spending all your hard-earned cash on a crazy night out in Old Street..

Thanks littlewolf. I knew I could count on you!

A further trawl around the internet has revealed that platypi have a poisonous claw which, if they attack you with it, leaves a wound that takes practically for ever to heal. So, in conclusion, the platypus omelette adventure would probably not really be worth the pain, suffering, tweezers, awful taste and environmental guilt.

Certain things you mention in your question: you know he's not someone you can see yourself being with; you foresee being miserable on your birthday if you go on this trip to be with him; suggest to me that, in your heart, you know you shouldn't go down this road. But really, you're the only one who can answer that truthfully - that's just what I see between the lines of your question.

What is your gut telling you about this? The best advice I can give you is to listen to it carefully and take it very seriously... the things I've regretted most have always been the things I've done (or not done) against the better judgment of my tummy!

Good luck!

Spend a couple of hours wandering around Montmartre... buy some fresh strawberries from the market there... pick up a baguette and a half bottle of red wine, and maybe some bizarre cheese you've never heard of, and go have a picnic lunch in the Jardins de Luxembourg.
Go to the Rodin museum, and if you have time, the Musee d'Orsay (skip the Louvre - there's just too much to see in a short visit, unless there is something specific you simply MUST see.)
Go up the Eiffel Tower. It's touristy and contrived but hey, you've gotta do it...
If you're like me and you have a morbid idea of fun, you might like Pere Lachaise cemetery. You can leave a lipstick kiss on Oscar Wilde's grave, and say hi to Jim Morrison while you're there.
Sit at a pavement cafe and drink espresso and people-watch.

Ohhhh I see. Cunning...

Yes that's what I thought too... Wouldn't bet my life on it, but I'm pretty sure I don't pee 2 litres every time I have a cuppa.

a what?

I don't think this is a decision that a bunch of strangers on the internet can make for you...