Five memorable moments

Lovely Linda from You’ve Got Your Hands Full and Have a Lovely Time has tagged me and asked me to write about my five best bits of 2009.

It can be complicated for me to write much about my girls, Mr X or True Love, as they have no right of reply (unless they start their own blogs – because they’re definitely not getting a go on mine). This doesn’t always stop me from using them as material when I see fit, of course. I reserve the right to exploit anything funny and/or outrageous they may say or do whenever I like – but for some reason I feel a bit odd about including their triumphs in this list. So I’m going to risk coming over like a rampant egomaniac, soooo not the case, you understand, and write exclusively about my own special moments this year, even though it’s their achievements that I really celebrate in my heart.

Probably my highest highlight was meeting Linda herself – and five other amazing people who have also become treasured friends, Laura, Erica, Jane, Lulu and Becky – for a one-week whirlwind in Disneyland, Florida. I’m not a thrill seeker (divorce is the biggest chance I’ve ever taken, and look how well that’s gone!), I get vertigo standing on a rug and I’m not normally one for charabanc tours. So I hesitated for a nanosecond when first invited on the trip. Thank God that, for once, I threw caution and my daughters to the winds (or to a very responsible mummy friend) and said yes. The Disney 7 are all very different people, but with one common interest, mojitos  blogging. For me, one of the joys of the trip – apart from laughing so much my stomach hurt – was not having to be in charge, for once. No matter how well behaved the children, single motherdom can be relentless and I LOVED handing all responsibility over to our amazing Mary Poppins, Sarah, quite simply the world’s best PR. We spent the week happily shuffling along behind her and doing what we were told (sometimes) and I would definitely follow her to the ends of the earth.

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In October, I was lucky enough to go on another trip, with Laura, Erica and new friends Tara and Jo. I can honestly say I have never had so much fun making collages. Listening to Laura ‘Dos Bread’ Driver’s effortless command of Spanish was a special treat, and howling with laughter behind a wagon outside the horrifying Hotel Burn will definitely be one of those moments to giggle over for ever.

I was really thrilled to be picked by Susanna at  A Modern Mother to be in a bloggy photoshoot for Red magazine, and being pampered and preened by the girl who does Bruce Forsyth’s make-up on Strictly was quite an experience. Unfortunately I think she forgot I wasn’t Brucie, as I looked like a cross between him and a whale in the actual photo, but we’ll gloss over that …..

Seeing the final artwork for the cover of my book, to be published in German this March, was the culmination of eight years of alternate dreaming and hard slog. A very special moment. Of course, they promptly changed the cover a couple of months later, but that’s the wacky world of publishing for you! In fact, I was very happy because I liked the second lot of colours more. Can’t wait to see it in real life.

And, threading through everything else I’ve done and everywhere I’ve been, there’s been Book 2 – the sequel. I’ve kept on writing it, despite distractions, heartaches and, frankly, sometimes, a total dearth of inspiration, and have now past the 50,000 word stage. In my bleaker moments, I have a horrible feeling that about 49,000 of those words are crap, but still – they’re there, in black and white. When I’m not down, I know that the odd bit is really quite good. And I’m proud of that.

Another highlight – though I’m aware I’ve clocked up more than 5 now – has been keeping up with my favourite blogs, and discovering new ones. There are loads I love – you know who you are – but I think my favourite post of 2009 has to be this one from the delicious Rosie Scribble.

I’m now tagging:

Brighton Mum, Teenage Angst

Exmoor Jane

Moments from Suburbia

Victoria

 

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