But where have I been lately? Well, I lasted one month as Chair of my daughter’s playschool. Once the committee sussed out I was a loose cannon they side-lined me off into the fundraising and social events team. All went well for a week until I organised a meet and greet morning during half term. No one showed up. Yours truly sat alone amongst a crowd of strangers reading all about Jordan’s new boob job in a brightly coloured play zone costing ten pounds a minute. Oh well, at least I got to watch my little angel traumatise kids old enough to beat her up. We left after she stripped naked and chundered in the ball pit.

And last night I spoke to the lovely ladies of Westbury W.I. These amazing women have initiated a campaign to provide every service man and woman involved in conflicts around the world with a shoe box full of home cooking. So far over 300 boxes full of fruit cake and much needed home comforts have been received by the troops. Whatever your opinion on the situation of war, if you found yourself unlucky enough to be away from home, lonely and frightened, imagine receiving a box of goodies from someone who cared. Watch out for their website coming soon… www.boxesfromthegirls.co.uk.

I also graced the home page of www.christianwriter.co.uk for the month of January which gives me great encouragement to keep on chasing my dream of being a writer. It’s always one step forwards and two back but I never give up!

I rise bleary eyed, still clothed (what - there’s a whole nation of mothers out there sleeping in their clothes - it’s quicker), push one of the kids off my arm, and stumble downstairs to write in the quiet hush of sunrise. If I’m lucky enough for beloved bill payer to be home and game for a school run, I keep going but with industrial ear phones on. Let me tell you it’s not a pretty sight.

One day my friends…

Incidentally my spell checker just told me blogging should be flogging which feels about right.

Hopefully it won’t be too long before all can be revealed… Until then, I’ll crack on with book three. At the moment, You & Your Wedding magazine rate ‘Married to Albert’ as the second best honeymoon read ever - that’s higher than the Penguin entry (see page 32).

Back soon!

1 = Magnolia quarter.
2 = Fantastic fourteen acre (but rat infested slug riddled) farm.
3 = Small (standing room only) house near village pub.

Yes, I moved house again and again (and again) while darling hubby flew a block of flats around the world. Just one week after the last upheaval we welcomed into our lives a rather unusual guest. My home still had no husband, curtains, computer, phone, sofa but it did have a vicar! Liz Goddard, Chaplain of Wycliffe College pitched up, mucked in and blessed my chaotic cupboards for harbouring Earl Grey tea bags. Once a year, students and teachers from the college stay here, there and everywhere. I suspect the neighbours view me as odd since I hosted a ‘Grill a Vicar’ evening (much more tasty than a salad) where friends threw all sorts of questions at Liz but school were sure of it when my seven year old took her in the following morning to show and tell!

Thanks Liz, for your patience at my questions (’but why did he have to die…’ and, ‘what about the dinosaurs…’) but I also have to commend your passion. Life for you is simple and complete. The trick is just to trust and let go…

After lunch (did I mention how lovely it was) I banged on about the healing art of writing, explaining that as long as I find life funny, I’ll write about it. Only afterwards when I met the guests of Princess Marina House did I start to feel humble. These fantastic people had years (and I mean years) of service under their belts with amazing stories of postings and action. My incredible journey from paper to publisher suddenly seemed inadequate as I heard about one resident (a spy in World War I) and met exceptional gentlemen like ‘Spike’ Kelly.

Real life accounts of true love, courage and survival are everywhere. Our ignorance of such memories is criminal.
Go on, grab a granny and ask what she did 50 years ago. She might surprise you and put your achievements in the shade…

Did you survive the silly season? Our tree was stripped daily from toddler height down and redecorated by toddler’s big brother with Lego. Used to worry about things being perfect but since I became a man - refused to write cards/shopped on line/ate packaged mince pies, everything made sense.

My 6 year old played Joseph in the church nativity (result!) and we dragged him off to see the big lie himself. Toddler refused to sit on Santa’s knee so I did (at least I think it was his knee) to show solidarity. Rather clever FC - he delivered a massive cardboard box filled with balloons for her and both kids spent all Xmas day (as dogs) inside it. They even drank from bowls howling with laughter ignoring the presents. In preparation for New Year’s Eve I had two early nights. I find it impossible to stay up till midnight waiting for drunk rellies to phone and wake the kids up. What would the nation do each year without Jules Holland and The Vicar of Dibley?

Right, back to it…

At the end of the day it’s all about love, whatever spiritual banner you fly. So laugh at life, fight for your friends and tread lightly on the earth.

Wishing you all a happy Christmas and a fat New Year…

Annie.

Not having a babysitter and a husband away yet again meant I had to say no. However, Denise sent her 20 year old daughter over to my house in Buckingham. So I got in the bath with the kids, stuffed fire lighters in my husband’s shoes and threw them in the wood burner (what? they’re usually on ebay anyway) to get the fire going and an hour later found myself in front of 100 people at Eynsham Hall near Witney talking about my love of writing.

Thank God everyone laughed in the right place - “I’d like to say thank you for inviting me but since you didn’t I won’t…”

Trouble is, darling husband retires from the Air Force soon and the house we were buying fell through. So, before everything went pear shaped, I floated through life - writing ’till midnight and even cooked healthy meals! Amazing days happened like RIAT (see log) and Oxfam phoned to ask if I could open one of their new bookshops. Brilliant! I bought a hat and practised saying, “People of Marlborough, it gives me great pleasure…”

It was great fun to cut the official ribbon and meet the crew involved. I wish them every success.
My publisher Boltneck Publications Ltd tells me the 1st edition of Married to Albert has almost sold out. The 2nd edition comes out in Sept (new cover and price) so grab one of those first editions while you can.

Back to manic lifestyle…

I owe an enormous thank you to the RAF Benevolent Fund who invited me along and Waterstone’s for their incredible support in selling my book. Since before the birth of Married to Albert I pledged a percentage of sales to RAFBF. Check out my photo gallery to see the pics. I am certainly acting like a celeb in training, I just hope to keep on making money for my chosen charity. What’s next you ask? I’m opening Oxfam in Marlborough on Friday…