Its Christmas...and thank goodness the world didn't end!

Well the world didn't end on this cold, damp 21st day of December.
Lets face it did we really think it would? Maybe...just a tiny smidgen of doubt had settled its self into the smallest deepest corner of my mind. I am elated however that I am still here especially after the fortune I've spent  on Christmas presents. Every year I say I'm going to cut back and buy less, after all my children are adults now however I am blessed with three beautiful nieces and two gorgeous nephews who are still young enough to appreciate Santa Claus so buying them gifts is a pleasure.

But do we ever grow up? I have always loved this time of year its a magical merry-go-round that I enjoy so much. Everyone seems to be happy, full of joy and Christmas spirit. For twenty three years I have been hanging stockings up at our coal fire place for my two children and even into adult hood I have carried on this tradition in fact I think my daughter would never speak to me again if I didn't comply with this.
I still enjoy watching the joy on Emma and Chris's faces when they unwrap their presents on Christmas morning.

Today was a day for last minute shopping although I have to say I am remarkably organised this year which is a miracle in the making because I am usually that mad person who is rushing around like a lunatic  on Christmas Eve.Although... I have to confess I still haven't iced my Christmas cake which will be done before the day arrives...I hope!

A visit to the hairdressers was on the cards today and it was a much needed appointment because I kinda looked like a cross between a dried up old haystack and a poodle brushed and poofed to perfection. I have the thickest hair ever and it was in desperate need of a haircut and once again I have to give praise to my hairdresser whom I have been going to for at least twenty years, she plowed her way through  and now it looks somewhere near okay...I think!

Going to have my nails done tomorrow with my daughter and we are having Shellac done so at least it won't chip or fade for at least the Christmas period. I quite fancy having red with snow flakes just to get into the festive season.

Where has 2012 gone, I'm sure I am not the only one who thinks it has flown by, it hardly seems like twelve months have passed since it was last Christmas, personally I think the world has sped up on its axis and that's why it seems like time is flying, except I know I am just getting older and time is flying by quicker than I want it to.





Reviews!


Hiding behind my fingers I tentatively click on the Amazon link that leads to my newly published book 'Her Passionate Protector'. I want to look to see if I have any reviews but I'm a little wary in case no one has left one...It's such a heart stopping moment. All that hard work, all the sleepless nights and all you want is to know that someone has bought it and left a whopping five starts. Dare I...No I can't...Yes I must...Oh for goodness sake just look.
Moving my fingers wide enough to peep out of I look with one eye open and a whoosh of breath exits my lungs and I jump up and down in my chair like some demented person...Five, five star reviews...Woo hoo! Thank goodness!


http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B00A6D5O84/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1




I thought writing my book was going to be the toughest job ever and getting a publisher to like it...well I figured that would be almost impossible, and it was hard but eventually that dream came true. As far as I was concerned I was home and dry...

No, no, no,  I wasn’t dry at all I was soaking wet and slipping and sliding everywhere  as the hardest part of it all is the promotions, knowing where to go and how to do it and out of all the thousands of authors out there getting you're work noticed.

My publisher has given me some great advice and I am trying to find my way round this part of a writer’s life. It’s not easy, but I know a lot more than I did two months ago and I hope I will know a lot more two months further down the line.



Poignant Moment!

I'm sure that I am not the only one who treasures their pets whether it's a dog, cat or budgie. I n my case it's my dog well we have two actually, two Jack Russel's and they are adored. Lucy and Jim had six puppies three years ago and they were adorable it was manic having all these little balls of fluff everywhere. Puddles and little poo piles were frequently cleared up.

You couldn't have two very different personalities. Lucy is quiet but the boss and Jim is noisy and thinks he is the boss but that  is an over thought on his part because Lucy very clearly has the authoritative voice between the two...always. In fact she is the diva of the doggy world. But we love them both and they are very much part of out family.

While Jim is very healthy poor Lucy has had a lot of problems, two discs in her back slipped and she was paralised for some time, but with medication and lots of hydrotherapy she can now walk but sometimes with great difficulty. In the last twelve months we have been fighting to save her from going blind, but after our visit to the vets on Thursday she decided to take Lucy of all medication. She is now totally blind in one eye and has only peripheral vision in the other . To begin with she was bumping into everything and we joked that she would have to have a crash helmet but amazingly she is coping very well and as long as we don't move anything she has managed to avoid concussion.

The sad news was that we were told she may have two months or she may live for twelve months and that was a shock to us. We still take her to hydrotherapy because it helps with her back. Sometimes she surprises us and tries to play actually in her younger days she used to play pool with the guys and pushed the balls into the corner holes with her nose.

Lucy& six pups.

Swimming with her life jacket.

Swimming without a jacket.

Jim and Lucy

She is only young at eight years old but Lucy has a personality that is like no other and we love her dearly so as long as she is with us we will continue to care and hope that the dreaded day of her leaving us doesn't come for a long time yet.

Its Party Time!

So this weekend was exciting, I had arranged a family party and I took everyone out to our favourite restaurant and there was about seventeen of us. It was such fun. Champagne on ice, great food and the best company. We talked and laughed. The children had fun catching up with each other and it gave my heart a squeeze to realise how lucky I am to have sisters and a mum so close by.

I bought presents for everyone all wrapped in Christmas paper and my little nephew Matt( who is my little buddy whom I adore) helped give these out and it was so good to see everyone's  faces when they opened them.
Unbeknown to me I thought it was a party I had organised, but somehow my family managed to turn the tables on me by presenting me with a humongous bouquet of flowers and framed photo's of my first published book and a newspaper article that had been written about me. I was shocked that they had managed to keep it all from me. My two sisters presented me with a gold pen which they said was for all the autographs I will be writing...oh my I just wanted to cry it was so sweet.



It was a fabulous night, one I won't ever forget and it just made me realise how utterly lucky I am to have such a caring family close by.