The Lazy Girl's Guide to Life: Old Year/New Year

Yes, it's the end of another year, and shockingly enough another decade, so as 2010 rolls in, I'm taking a look back through an eventful ten years.......

In 1999/2000, I was 17, living in my first flat, and engaged to get married later in 2000. I was sitting, hopelessly drunk, in the middle of Rochester, after loosing my friends and fiance, and not quite sure where they'd gone, what time it was or even if I had the keys to said flat (I didn't- when I'd flounced out the pub, I had managed to do so without my coat, or my keys). I was (probably) wearing my Doc Marten boots (actually that's a given, I was never out of them), my favourite black one shoulder dress that was cut in the same way t the bottom as at the top at a weird angle, my hair was purple at the time, and I probably had panda eyed makeup and lipstick on but by that time it would have fallen off my face. I never did catch up with anyone that night. I sat on a bench with a bottle of vodka and a packet of cigarettes, and watched the sun come up, freezing cold, but just, well, in silence.

Those were crazy days. I had left home in September for good, had quit college (which I now very much regret), and was feeling very pulled into a marriage I wasn't happy about, but I really liked his family, and having cut ties with mine for good, it felt good to be included in such a great group of people as his family were. I caused no end of grief with my family as I'd chosen to spend Christmas day with his family and not mine, and I loved the whole day with them. I was disgustingly poor back then, but they bought me loads of really lovely gifts, like coats, and clothes, and God knows what else. Their son, however, was awful to me, he was a very mixed up person, but everytime I would dump him, his parents would be round begging me to reconsider.

But in June 2000, I was at home at the new flat, which I thought was the poshest thing ever as it was besides the river and had views to my favourite place at the time, the Castle, when one of my sisters boyfriends friends rang the intercom. I had only met him once, with the boyfriend, and to be honest the boyfriend drove me mad, so I lied and said the switch on my phone to open the door was broken, so I could sneak down and check he wasn't there! My sister didn't go out with him very long, and is now married to someone else (or so I'm told).

On the doorstep was Ed. That day changed everything. The abusive fiance was chucked, and told the wedding was off, and I felt a huge relief that it was over.

Fast forward to this year, and we're only a few days from the new decade.

I can assure you I shall not spend New Year with purple hair, a bottle of vodka sitting in the cold on a bench!

I feel this year has been a big one for me in many ways.

The whole of my adult life has been spent thinking I will do something about getting the career I've always dreamt of, but not actually doing anything about it.

But this year, I signed up for Twitter, purely to see what the fuss was about. One of the people I followed mentioned about British Mummy Bloggers, and so I joined that too. I had written a half arsed blog on My Space for a while, just to stop my brain turning to mush, and had about 100 followers. But for some reason it went all weird and wouldn't let anyone post for months.

When I started BMB, I found out others were using Blogspot to post. So in June I signed up there too, and that's what you're reading now.

I found that if I posted a link at BMB, people actually read what I wrote, and liked it, and even commented!

The next step was joining the Parent Reviewers and Media Requests groups, and from that, I've had another thing to write about, in the shape of product reviews. I joined up with The Great Toy Guide, and then later on Mummy Reviews, which I love.

I find it so easy to approach Pr agencies and companies for stuff to review, and hell, I was told a few weeks back that at a product launch other PR's were talking about me. Yes, me, Mum of two, ex drunk teenager, she who never thought her writing would get anywhere.

I've been in The Mirror, The Independent (the bloody Independent, that's a proper high brow paper!), and Real People magazine.

I have two beautiful children, who I love and adore, and without who, this blog would be very dull indeed. The lovely comments I received when I blogged about Edward and how ill he had been brought me to tears. This Christmas was so special, as last year he was still very ill, a scrawny boy on oxygen. Now he's a strapping boy, who can stand without holding onto something, loves to dance, giggles like mad at daft stuff his sister does, and whose current favorite word to try and say is "chip". Chrissy has lost that babyness and is so clever it shocks me. She loves books, loves nothing more than dancing and singing, and can get out of trouble with a grin. She is the child who no matter how often you brush her hair is scruffy again in ten seconds flat.

So, what does 2010 hold? God knows! But the blog will carry on, as long as people still want to read the mad thoughts of me and the exploits of the children too.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL XX